Stranger Things
by alexanderhamifan02
Summary: On his way home from a friend's house, Hiro Hamada sees something terrifying. Nearby, a sinister secret lurks in the depths of a government lab. Will fifteen year old Hiro make it out alive? Or will Tadashi and Aunt Cass worry forever?- - A Stranger Things crossover.
1. The Vanishing of Hiro Hamada

**A/N: So, this is my first fic. It's a Stranger Things crossover. For those of you who don't know what that is, it's a really interesting Netflix original. It came out last month and it reminded me of the movie. There are spoilers up ahead. Like. Big spoilers. Just saying.**

 **Also, some characters from the show remained the same. All of the characters with nicknames (Honey Lemon, Wasabi, etc.) have the same names as the character I made them on the show, they just go by their nickname. If that makes sense. Hiro, Wasabi, Fred, and Michael are fifteen, and Honey Lemon, GoGo, and Tadashi are 17. There will be eight chapters for season one, and eight more when the second season comes out. That may not sound like a lot, but these chapters are extremely long. So... Enjoy. Review. But mostly enjoy.**

 **Disclaimers- I do not own any Big Hero 6 or Stranger Things characters.**

 **NOVEMBER 6TH, 2015**

 **SAN FRANSOKYO, CALIFORNIA**

 **SAN FRANSOKYO NATIONAL LABORATORY**

 **U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY**

* * *

 _Swish_

The panicked scientist raced through the lab door, not thinking twice about looking back or stopping. The lights flickered and the sirens blared as he ran down the long, unsettling halls. He made noises of pain as his legs nearly gave out, pleading for him to stop. But he couldn't. Not now. This was his life at stake, he wouldn't stop until he was safe. He finally reached the elevator door after turning another corner, practically throwing himself against the wall and frantically pressing the elevator button. Sweat dripped down his pale forehead as he looked back, making sure nothing was there.

Making sure that...that _monster_ wasn't there.

The elevator doors finally gave in, opening much to the scientist's delight. He ran in, looking back to get a final look at the hallway that took him what felt like an eternity to get through. The sirens continued blaring, and he continued staring.

 _C'mon, c'mon..._

Still, the doors refused to shut.

Then, he heard it.

The harsh growl of the devil himself overhead. The scientist's blood ran cold as he slowly looked above, his eyes widening at what he saw.

 _Oh God, it's on the ceiling...waiting._

His screams filled the small elevator as the doors shut, leaving him alone with the monster.

* * *

"Something's coming. Something hungry for blood."

...

"A shadow crosses the wall behind you, swallowing you in darkness. _It_ is almost here,"

"What is it?!"

"What if it's the Demogorgon?! Oh, Jesus, we're so screwed if it's the Demogorgon!"

"It's NOT the Demogorgon!"

The three boys are on the edges of their seats as Michael tells them about...well, _it._ Michael smirks before slamming a figurine on the table before them.

"An army of troglodytes charge into the chamber!" Michael exclaims, taking in each of their expressions. One of them, Fred, to be precise, is not amused.

"Troglodytes?" he asks, clearly not impressed.

"Told ya," Wasabi grins at him from across the table.

Their chuckles fill the basement.

"Wait a minute.." Michael says softly, looking around himself. "Did you hear that? That...that sound? Boom...boom...BOOM!" he suddenly yells, instantly grabbing his friend's attention. "That didn't come from the troglodytes. No, that...That came from something else.'

Silence as the other three exchange looks, unsure of what their friend is trying to say. Michael smirks before...

 _BOOM_

"The Demogorgon!" he shouts as he slams the two-headed figurine on the table. His friends groan in annoyance.

"We're in deep shit," Fred complains.

"Hiro! You're Action!" Michael looks at Hiro desperately.

"I don't know!"

"Fireball him!" Wasabi demands.

"I'd have to roll a thirteen or higher!" Hiro argues.

"Too risky. Cast a protection spell." Fred says excitedly. Wasabi shakes his head in disapproval.

"Don't be a pussy. Fireball him!"

"Cast protection!"

"The Demogorgon is tired of your silly human bickering!" Michael snarls. "It stomps towards you. Boom!"

"Fireball him!" Wasabi pleads.

"Another stomp, boom!"

"Cast protection!" Fred prods.

"He roars in anger!"

"Fireball!" Hiro shouts, throwing the die in fear. They roll off the table and land on the rough carpet below.

"Oh shit!"

"Where'd they go?!"

They frantically rise from their seats, searching the floor for the die.

"Is it a thirteen?"

"I don't know!"

"Oh, my god. Oh, my god!"

"MIKE!"

Michael's mother opens the door at the top of the stairs, placing her hands on her hips in annoyance.

"Mom, we're in the middle of a campaign!"

"You mean the end?" she huffs. "Fifteen after!"

"Oh my god, freaking idiot!" their bickering continues as Michael races up the stairs after his mother.

"Mom, just wait 20 more minutes!"

"It's a school night, Michael. I just put your little sister to bed, you can finish next weekend."

"But that'll ruin the flow!"

"Michael-"

"I'm serious, Mom. The campaign took two weeks to plan! How was I supposed to know it would take ten hours?"

"You've been playing for ten hours?"

"Ugh, Dad!" he turns around to his father in the living room, "Don't you think that twenty more-"

"I think that you should listen to you mother," he says as he adjusts the antenna on the television, hitting it in annoyance. "Dang dumb piece of junk."

Michael groans, rushing back down to the basement to see what his friends were able to find. As if on cue, Hiro shouts in triumph.

"Oh, I got it!" he exclaims as he examines the die. He rushes to Wasabi as he zips his jacket. "Does the seven count?"

"It was a seven? Did Mike see it?" Hiro shakes his head. "Then it doesn't count." Hiro nods proudly, stuffing the die in his pocket and slinging his bag over his shoulder. Fred and Wasabi follow suit.

"Yo, hey." Fred grabs the pizza box and gestures it towards them. "Does anyone want this?"

"No," Hiro and Wasabi say in unison, rushing up the stairs. Fred huffs in annoyance, taking the box to the third story to see if Michael's older sister wanted any.

"Yeah, he's cute. GoGo, no- I don't think..."

"Hey, Honey Lemon!" Fred waves, walking into said girl's room in the middle of a phone conversation. She glances over at him. "There's a slice left if you want it. Sausage and pepperoni!"

"Hold on." Honey Lemon tells the person on the other line, setting the phone down on her bed, getting up and shutting the door in his face. Fred sighs, running downstairs to catch up with his friends.

"There's something wrong with your sister." Fred tells Michael as he mounts his bike.

"What are you talking about?"

"She's got a stick up her butt."

"Yeah," Wasabi agrees, "It's because she's been dating that douchebag, Steve Harrington."

"Yeah, she's turning into a real jerk."

"She's always been a real jerk." Michael points out.

"Nuh-uh. She used to be cool. Like that time she dressed up as an elf for our Elder Tree campaign."

"Four years ago!"

"Just saying."

"Later, Mike!" Wasabi waved peddling away from the house. Fred follows. Hiro stays behind, biting his lower lip.

"...it was a seven."

"Huh?"

"The roll, it was a seven. The Demogorgon, it got me. See you tomorrow." Hiro smiles softly, peddling away from Mike's house. Michael sighs, smiling to himself before shutting the garage door and going inside.

* * *

"Goodnight, ladies." Wasabi smirks, peddling towards his house and away from Fred and Hiro.

"Kiss your mom 'night for me." Fred replies with a laugh. He turns to Hiro and squints his eyes. "Race you back to my place? Winner gets a comic."

"...Any comic?"

"Yeah."

Hiro breathes in slowly before taking off, peddling as fast as he could.

"Hey! Hey! I didn't say 'go'!" Fred shouts, chasing after him. "Get back here! I'm gonna kill you!"

"I'll take your X-Men 134!" Hiro grins, racing away from Fred and onto the road home.

"Son of a bitch." Fred grunts.

Hiro laughs, turning onto a lonely quiet road. The wind hissed and the cold bit harshly at Hiro's exposed face. He didn't pay much mind to it. Nothing really scared Hiro Hamada that much anyway.

So he went on.

Suddenly, the light on Hiro's bike began to flicker, much to Hiro's confusion. He looked down at it, shrugging and continuing on.

That was, until he saw _it._

Out of nowhere, a tall, bony creature jumped out in front of his bicycle, leading him off the road and into a trench where he rolled off his bike and into a pile of leaves. He slowly looked up as a distant growling sound came to his attention. He gasped, darting up from the ground and running away from his bike to go home. He quickly made it back onto the road, his house in his sight. He sighed in relief, sprinting towards his Aunt's cafe. He opened the door and slammed it shut, locking it tight and looking out the window once more. His aunt's cat, Mochi, quickly ran to Hiro and purred against his leg. He paid no mind to him and darted up to the second floor of the house.

"Aunt Cass? Tadashi? Aunt Cass!"

Both of their rooms. Nothing.

He breathes heavily, tearing open the curtains in the hallway to see if the beast had followed him.

And that it did. Out of the fog, it emerged, slowly walking towards the cafe. Hiro gasped, running to the phone and dialing the police station.

"Hello? Hello?!"

Static.

He glances over at the front door, the color leaving his face as all of the locks came undone on their own. He gasped, dropping the phone and running down to the garage. He quickly grabs Tadashi's gun out of the corner, taking out his hidden box of bullets and reloading the gun. With trembling hands, he takes the gun and points it at the garage door, ready for the attack of...of _whatever_ that monster is. But before he can even think, a bitter growling noise comes from behind him.

And just like that, Hiro disappeared, leaving nothing but a loaded gun, a swinging light bulb, and a worried Mochi.

 **CHAPTER ONE**

 **THE VANISHING OF HIRO HAMADA**

 _The next morning..._

 _"And that's it for News Center this morning. Thanks for joining us. Let's hand off now to Liz at the news desk."_

 _"All right, thank you, Donna. We're getting reports of surges and power outages all across the county. Last night, hundreds of homes in the East were affected, leaving many residents in the dark. The cause of the outage is still unknown. We reached out to Roane County Water and Electric, and a spokesperson says that they are confident power will be restored to all remaining homes within the next several hours-"_

 _Bark! Bark!_

The man wakes with a gasp, wincing from the sunlight leaking through the curtains and onto his couch. He sighs, checking his watch and closing his eyes. He complies, getting up and stepping outside for a smoke. His body trembles from the cold as he stares out at the lake from his porch, dreading the new day. He stays out for a few minutes longer before stepping back inside to shower.

He splashes water onto his face, depending on it to make him feel any better.

It doesn't.

He dries his hair, brushes his teeth, and takes his pills. But nothing helps.

He buttons his shirt, buckles his belt, snaps his gun onto it, and clips his sheriff badge on before grabbing his hat and leaving the house, his television still running.

 _"In other news, you might wanna stay home tonight or pack an umbrella. We turn to our favorite morning weather guy, Charles."_

* * *

"Where the hell are they? Tadashi?"

"Check the couch!" Tadashi replies from the kitchen, scrambling eggs for breakfast.

"Ugh, I did."

...

"Oh. Got 'em." she chuckles, rushing over to Tadashi to kiss him on the cheek. "I gotta run and grab a few things before I open up shop, so I'll see you tonight."

"Yeah, see you later." Tadashi smiled.

"Where's Hiro?"

"Oh, I didn't get him up yet. He's probably still sleeping." he replied nonchalantly.

"Tadashi, you have to make sure he's up!"

"Aunt Cass, I'm making breakfast." he gestures to the pan on the stove and the toaster.

"I told you this a thousand times. Hiro! Come on, honey. It's time to get up." she shouts, rushing upstairs and to his room.

Only to find no Hiro.

Tadashi flips the toast out of the toaster and onto the plate as Aunt Cass comes back into the kitchen, confusion splattered on her face.

"He came home last night, right?"

"He's not in his room?" Tadashi turned around, equally as confused.

"Did he come home or not?"

"I don't know."

"You don't know?"

"I got home late. I was working."

"You were working?"

"Eric asked if I could cover. I said yes. I just thought we could use the extra cash."

"Tadashi, we've talked about this!"

"I know, I know-"

"You can't take shifts while I'm working!"

"Cass, it's not a big deal. Look, he was at the Wheeler's all day. I'm sure he just stayed over."

"I can't believe you. I can't believe you sometimes!" Cass huffed, marching to the phone to dial Mrs. Wheeler.

* * *

"That's disgusting." Honey Lemon said, closing her eyes in disgust as Michael drenched his waffles in chocolate sauce.

 _Ring! Ring!_

"You're disgusting!"

"Hello?" Mrs. Wheeler picked up the phone.

"Hi, Karen. It's Cass."

"Oh, Cass, hi!"

Michael reached over, pouring chocolate sauce on Honey Lemon's waffles.

"What the hell, Mike?"

"Quiet!" Karen snapped before turning back to the phone.

"Language." Mr. Wheeler scolded.

"Are you kidding?"

"Was that Hiro I heard back there?" Cass continued.

"Hiro? No, no, no, it's just Mike."

"Hiro didn't spend the night?"

"No, he left a little bit after 8:00. Why? He's not home?"

...

"Um, you know what? I think he just left early for...for school. Thank you so much. Bye."

"Okay. Bye."

Cass turned back and saw Tadashi's worry covered face, trying not to think the worst.

* * *

Wasabi, Fred, and Michael all peddled to school, searching the crowd of students for Hiro. They all looked at each other in confusion when they saw no sign of him. They shrugged, peddling over to park their bikes.

"That's weird. I don't see him." said Michael.

"I'm telling you, his mom's right." Wasabi said, walking next to Michael. "He probably just went to class early again."

"Yeah, he's always paranoid Gursky's gonna give him another pop quiz." Fred chimed in.

"Step right up, ladies and gentlemen." A familiar voice made itself known. much to the boys' dislike. They all groaned, turning to face their tormentors. "Step right up and get your tickets for the freak show."

"Who do you think would make more money in a freak show?" his "sidekick" asked. "Midnight", he punched Wasabi's chest, "Frogface", he nudged Michael's shoulder, "or Fanboy?" he flicked Fred's forehead.

"Hm...it's a tough call... But I'd have to go with Fanboy."

They both laughed and patted their own backs before nudging themselves between the three.

"Assholes."

* * *

Honey Lemon took in the morning breeze before walking into the High School building, joining the ocean of students. She tried to spot a familiar face, when...

"So, did he call?"

Honey Lemon gasped before realizing it was none other than her best friend, Gogo

"Keep your voice down!" Honey Lemon giggled.

"Did he?"

"I told you, it's not like that."

...

"Okay, I mean, yes, he likes me, but not like that. We just...made out a couple times." Honey Lemon said sheepishly as she opened her locker with dreamy eyes.

"'We just...made out a couple times'" GoGo quoted with a higher pitched voice and a goofy face. "Honey, seriously. You're gonna be so cool now, it's ridiculous."

"No, I'm not!"

"You better still hang out with me, that's all I'm sayin'."

Honey Lemon looks at her with disbelief.

If you become friends with Tommy H. or Carol-"

"Oh, that's gross! Okay, I'm telling you, it was a one-time...two-time thing"

Suddenly, Honey Lemon noticed a note in the corner of her locker. She unfolded it slowly. It read-

 **MEET ME IN THE BATHROOM**

 **-STEVE**

"You were saying?" GoGo smirked. "By the way, that's so cliche , it hurts."

Honey Lemon bit her lower lip before throwing the note away and rushing to the Girl's restroom.

* * *

"Steve."

"Mmhmm?"

"Get off of me," Honey Lemon laughed. "I really have to go."

"Wait, wait, wait, let's do something tonight, yeah?"

"Uh...no, I can't. I have to study for Kaminsky's test."

"Oh, come on. What's your GPA again? 3.999..."

"Kaminsky's tests are impossible." Honey Lemon argued.

"Well, then, just let me help."

"You failed chem."

"C-minus."

"Well, in that case..."

"So I'll be over around say, like, 8:00?"

"Are you crazy? My mom would not-"

"I'll climb through your window. She won't even know I'm there. I'm stealthy, like a ninja."

"You are crazy." Honey Lemon giggled before _almost_ walking past him.

"Wait, wait, wait. Just...okay, forget about that. We can just...we can just, like, chill in my car. We can find a nice, quiet place to park, and..."

"Steve, I have to study. I'm not kidding."

"Well, why do you think I want it to be nice and quiet?"

"You're an idiot, Steve Harrington." she smiled softly, finally getting past him with a new attitude. She turned back to him before leaving.

"Meet me at Dearborn and Maple at 8:00. To study."

* * *

"Good of you to show."

"Oh, hey, morning, Flo. Morning, everybody."

"Hey, chief."

"Damn! You look like hell, chief."

"Oh, yeah? Well, I looked better than your wife when I left her this morning."

The officer's shared a good laugh and continued playing cards.

"While you were drinking or sleeping," the receptionist, Flo, chimed in, "or whatever it is you deemed so necessary on Monday morning, Phil Larson called. Said some kids are stealing the gnomes out of his garden again."

"Oh, those garden gnomes again. Well, I'll tell you what, I'm gonna get right on that."

"On a more pressing matter, Cassandra Hamada can't find her nephew this morning."

"Mmm. Okay, I'm gonna get on that, just give me a minute."

"Cass is very upset."

"Well, Flo, Flo, we've discussed this. Mornings are for coffee and contemplation."

"Chief, she's already in your-"

"Coffee and contemplation, Flo!"

He shook his head and sighed, turning the corner to his office only to find a worried Cass with a cigarette and a large jacket making her look like someone she wasn't. He was shocked it was even her standing before him.

"I have been waiting here over an hour, Callaghan."

"And I apologize for that-"

"I'm going out of my mind!"

"Look, a boy his age, he's probably playing hooky, okay?"

"No. Not my Hiro. He's not like that. He wouldn't do that."

"Well, you never know. I mean, my mom thought that I was on the debate team, really I was just screwing Chrissy Carpenter in the back of my dad's car, so..."

"Look, he's not like you, Callaghan. He's not like me. He's not like...most. He has a couple of friends, but, you know, the kids, they're mean. They make fun of him, they call him names. They laugh at him, his clothes-"

"His clothes? What's wrong with his clothes?"

"I don't know. Does that matter?"

"Maybe."

"Look, he's...He's a sensitive kid. Lonnie...Lonnie used to say he was queer, called him a fag."

"Is he?"

"He's missing is what he is!" Cass sighed, putting the cigarette in her mouth.

"When was the last time you heard from your ex-husband?"

Cass scoffed, taking the cigarette out of her mouth.

"Uh, last I heard, he was in Indianapolis. That was about a year ago. But he has nothing to do with this."

"Why don't you give me his number?"

"You know, Callaghan, he was nothing to do with this. Trust me.-"

"Cass. 99 out of 100 times, kid goes missing, the kid is with a parent or relative."

"Well-what about the other time?"

"...What?"

"You said '99 out of 100.' What about the other time? The one?"

"Cass-"

"The one!"

Cass shook her head, looking to her knees in concern while her trembling hands lifted the cigarette back into her mouth.

"Cass, it's Monday. Why don't you go ahead and do us both a favor by calling your ex-husband?"

"Okay, fine!" Cass snapped with anger filled eyes. "I will call Lonnie. He will talk to me before he talks to-"

"What, a pig?"

"A cop!" Cass corrected, still fuming with anger before sighing and dropping her shoulders. "Just find my nephew, Callaghan. Find him!" she cried, voice cracking.

Callaghan continued to look on in pity.

* * *

Four men in suits piled out of their cab, briefcases in hand. They walked to the entrance of the San Fransokyo National Laboratory to meet Dr. Krei. One of them smiled, extending his hand as he approached said doctor.

"Dr. Krei."

He accepted the greeting with a nod and a hand shake.

"This way, gentlemen. The entire east wing will be evacuated within the hour." A fellow scientist informed them. "We've sealed off this area following quarantine protocol." They all turned a corner as one of the guards in the building unzipped a tarp blocking an entryway, allowing them in. The five men went to the locker rooms, taking off their attire and zipping up into their body suits, helmets, and gloves. Each man was then handed a firearm as they stepped into the elevator that led underground. The elevator halted with a thud as the five men activated their flashlights to take in their new destination.

It was a long, unsettling hallway. The lights flickered and the over all color was a strange green. When they made it to the end of the hall, they turned a corner to find what looked like burn marks all the way up the walls. But when they looked closer, they discovered that it was a strange black slime that seemed to breathe on its own.

The men clenched their guns tighter than before.

When they entered the door at the end of the hallway, a large lab greeted them.

It was what was on the wall that was truly disturbing.

A large, slimy, dark, mysterious... _something_ was clenched to the wall. The thing made a skin crawling growl and it also seemed to be breathing.

"This is where it came from?" one of the men asked.

"Yes." Krei replied.

"And the girl?"

"She can't have gone far." he deadpanned.

* * *

 _Crunch_ went the leaves under the girl's feet as she tiredly walked through the orange forest. After walking for what seemed like forever, she finally spotted what looked like a house up ahead. A middle-aged man came out the back door, trash bag in hand. he slung it into the dumpster before stepping back inside.

The girl squinted her eyes at him, walking towards the house.

When she opened the door, she was instantly greeted with the sound of music and friendly conversation. She walked down a hallway of shelves, stocked to the brim with canned corn and other goods. She turned another corner to discover that she wasn't in a house.

She was in a restaurant.

"Alright, and one more." the man from before said, placing a tray of fries on a table.

"Hey, Ben," the man he served the fries to asked, "What do you think about that, uh... offer?"

"I don't know man, I don't know."

"I don't know, 37 points per game average-"

"37 now, but..."

She paid no mind to their conversation, turning into the kitchen. The world came to a halt when she noticed what was on the main counter.

A perfect, greasy tray of french fries.

She looked around, making sure no one saw her before she picked up a fry and bit into it. She looked up one more time to make sure the man didn't see her before taking a handful of french fries and shoving them in her mouth.

The man turned back around, stopping in his tracks when he spotted her. He furrowed his eyebrows in anger.

"Hey!"

Her eyes widened as she grabbed the tray and ran for it.

"Come back here!"

She opened the kitchen door and sprinted for the exit, but she didn't get far.

"You think you can steal from me, boy?!" he snarled, grabbing her by the shoulders. His face melted into confusion when he took in her appearance. Her head was shaved, she must have been 30 pounds, dirt was smudged on her face, and she wore a torn hospital gown.

"What in the hell?"

* * *

"Remember, finish chapter 12 and answer 12.3 on the difference between an experiment and other forms of science investigation. This will be on the test, which will cover chapters 10 through 12! It will be a multiple choice with an essay section..." Mr. Clarke trailed off, sighing and lowering his head as his students piled out of the classroom. He turned his head, smiling when he saw the excited faces of Fredrick, Lucas-or Wasabi, as Fred insisted, and Michael. Though, they seemed to be short a person...

"So, did it come?" Michael asked.

"Sorry boys." Mr. Clarke's smile faded, "I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but...it came!"

The three boys rushed into the school supply closet in his classroom, desperately throwing themselves at the desk in the center of the room.

"Yes!" Michael cheered.

"The Heathkit ham shack. Ain't she a beaut?" Mr. Clarke grinned, gesturing to the large radio in the middle of the room.

"I bet you could talk to New York on this thing." said Fred.

"Think bigger."

"California?" Wasabi widened his eyes.

"Bigger."

"Australia?"

Mr. Clarke nodded as the boys gasped in awe.

"When Hiro sees this, he's totally gonna blow his shit."

"Lucas!" Mr. Clarke scolded.

"Sorry."

Mr. Clarke shook his head, smiling brightly at him as Michael put on the headphones and spoke into the microphone in an Australian accent.

"Hello, this is Mike Wheeler, president of San Fransokyo High AV Club-"

Fred snatched the headphones before he could finish, grinning as he leaned toward the microphone.

"What are you doing?" Wasabi chuckled.

"Hello, this is Fred," he spoke in an Australian accent as well, "and this is the secretary and treasurer of San Fransokyo High AV Club. Do you eat kangaroos for breakfast?"

Before Wasabi could have a turn, the principal walked in, Sheriff Callaghan following.

"Sorry to interrupt, but, uh, may I borrow Lucas, Frederick and Michael?"

* * *

"Okay, okay, okay. One at a time, alright?" Callaghan huffed at the three on the couch in front of him. "You." he looked at Michael. "You said he takes what?"

"Mirkwood."

"Mirkwood?"

"Yeah."

"Have you ever heard of Mirkwood?" Callaghan asked the officer next to him.

"I have not. That sounds made up to me."

"No, it's from _Lord of the Rings._ " Wasabi added.

"Well, _The Hobbit._ "

"It doesn't matter."

"He asked!"

"Oh, 'he asked!'"

"Hey, hey, hey! What'd I just say? One at a damn time! You." he pointed at Michael again.

"Mirkwood, it's a real road. It's just the name that's made up. It's where Cornwallis and Kerley meet."

"Yeah, alright." Callaghan mutters, "I think I know what-"

"We can show you, if you want."

"I said that I know it!"

"We can help look!" Michael finally says.

"Yeah." Fred replies.

"No." Callaghan says sternly.

The three boys argue in response.

"No! After school, you are all to go home. Immediately. That means no biking around looking for your friend, no investigating, no nonsense. This isn't some _Lord of the Rings_ book."

 _"The Hobbit."_

"Shut up!" Wasabi reaches over to punch Fred in the chest. The two start fighting while Michael stares at his hands in annoyance. Callaghan leans forward with cold eyes.

"Do I make myself clear?" he asks softly. When he gets no response, he stands, walking towards them slowly. "Do I make myself...clear?"

"Yes, sir."

"Yeah."

* * *

 _Cass walks through the forest, coming across a fort decorated in blankets and paint. She walks to the front with a smile, pressing a button on the side._

 _"Ring a ding ding! Anybody home?"_

 _"Password?" Hiro asks from inside._

 _"Uh, Rada...Radaga-Radagast?"_

 _"...Yeah. Come in."_

 _"Thank you, sir." she smiles, opening the curtain to find Hiro sitting alone with a book._

 _"So, guess what? I closed up early, and..." she excitedly pulled out two movie tickets, "Ta-da! Poltergeist."_

 _"I-I thought I wasn't allowed to see it."_

 _"I changed my mind." Cass grinned. "As long as you don't have nightmares for a week."  
_

 _"Aunt Cass, I'm 15 years old. I don't get scared anymore."_

 _"Oh, yeah? Not even of clowns?"_

 _"No."_

 _"What about my witch?" Cass smirks, squinting her eyes and pointing her finger at Hiro._

 _"No, Aunt Cass-"_

 _"Ooh..."  
_

 _"Aunt Cass!-"_

 _"But Hiro Hamada... I want to cook you up in my-"_

 _S-stop! Haha! Aunt Cass that's so stupid!"_

 _..._

Aunt Cass sighed in defeat when she discovered Hiro's fort was empty. She dropped her head. What now?

"Hiro!" Tadashi shouted from behind.

"Hiro! Hiro?!"

Tadashi took a shaky breath of concern in the bitter cold. Wherever Hiro was, he hoped he was warm...

"HIRO!" he cried, "WHERE ARE YOU?!"

* * *

The owner of the restaurant flipped a hamburger on the grill, glancing back at the kid at the table. He took a breath before preparing the hamburger and returning to her, placing the meal in front of her. He gave her one of his shirts. He cleaned her off. But there was something about her that still set him off.

She instantly bit into the burger, eating almost half of it instantly.

"Geez." he sighed, "Your parents forget to feed you?"

She paid no mind to him, taking another bite.

"Is that why you ran away?" he prodded.

Nothing.

"They, uh...they hurt you?"

Silence.

"You went to the hospital, you got scared, you ran off, you wound up here, is that it?"

She looked up, but said nothing.

"All right," he said, taking the hamburger away from her and waving it around. "I'll give this back, all right? And you can have as much as you want. Maybe even some ice cream. But you gotta answer a few of my questions first, all right? We got a deal?"

She stared at him, taking a deep breath.

"Let's start with the easy stuff, all right? My name's Benny. Benny Hammond." he held his hand out. She stared at it in confusion. "See, like this," he took her hand. She looked at him in fear. "I got you. Don't worry. It's okay. Nice to meet you. And you are?"

She continued to stare. He sighed in defeat before noticing a black 011 on her forearm. She took her arm away quickly.

"Eleven? What's that mean? What's it mean?"

"No," she said quietly.

"Well, I'll be damned. She speaks." he laughed softly. "'No'? No, what?"

She looked down at her hands.

"All right," he clicked his tongue, "I guess no more food, then."

She watched him get up with sad eyes, until...

"Eleven."

"Yeah." he sat back down. "What's it mean?"

She pointed at herself.

"Eleven."

"All right then." he nodded, pushing the tray back to her as she dove into it. "Here you go." he chuckled. "Take it easy, take it easy."

* * *

"Look, all I know is that she's scared to death."

...

"Yeah, I think maybe she's been abused or... kidnapped or something."

...

"Yes, it'd be great if someone would come by."

...

"Okay, we're at 4819 Randolph Lane. Yes, Randolph."

Eleven sat alone in the diner, eating her third hamburger when a rattling noise came to her attention. She slowly looked up at a rattling fan, glaring daggers at it. She lowered her head, her glaring intensifying when...

 _Screech_

It stopped.

Eleven looked satisfied as she continued eating.

* * *

Callaghan took two officers with him to what Michael said was "Mirkwood", a hidden road near the forest.

"Hiro Hamada!" the officers shouted. "Come on, kid! Come out!"

Callaghan walked forward with a sigh, opening his medication bottle and taking a pill. He scanned the area before landing his eyes on a ditch in the forest.

"Hey! I got something!" he shouted, rushing to the ditch where a blue bike lay abandoned.

"That his bike?" an officer asked.

"Yeah, he must have crashed." Callaghan observed, looking around the forest.

"You think he got hurt in the fall?"

"Not so hurt he couldn't walk away. Bike like this is like a Cadillac to these kids. He would've walked it home."

The three officers glanced at each other in suspicion, continuing their search for Hiro Hamada.

* * *

"Is Lonnie there?"

"Lonnie isn't here right now."

"Can you please-"

"I told you, Lonnie's not here."

"Who is this?"

"His girlfriend, Cynthia."

"Cynthia."

"Who the hell is this?"

"Cynthia, this is Cass."

"Who?"

"Lonnie's ex-wife. I really need to speak to him-"

"Lonnie's not here."

"Can you please put-"

"Why don't you call back later?"

"No! No, not later. Now. Can-"

 _Beep..._

"Bitch!" Cass snarled, hanging up the phone with a thud.

"Aunt Cass!"

"What?!"

"You have to stay calm."

Cass only laughed bitterly in response, dialing his number again.

 _"Hey, you've reached Lonnie. Leave a message and I'll holler right back at ya."_

 _Beep..._

"Lonnie, some teenager just hung up on me. Hiro is...is missing. I don't know where he is. I need... I just need you to call me back, please, just-"

 _Beep..._

"Damn it! Damn it!"

"...Aunt Cass?"

"What?"

The sound of cars approaching from outside made Cass's head perk up.

"Cops."

Cass and Tadashi tore through the front door, looking at the police cars in worry as Callaghan opened his trunk and pulled out a bike. Cass gasped loudly as Tadashi closed his eyes, trying to believe this was all some horrible dream. A prank, something- anything but this. The cops all followed the Hamada's back inside.

"It was just lying there?" Cass's voice cracked.

"Yeah. Bill?" Callaghan gestured for the officer to examine the house.

"Did it have any blood on it, or-"

"No, no, no, no, no..."

"If you found the bike out there, why are you here?" Tadashi asked, voice and hands trembling.

"Well, he had a key to the house, right?"

"Yeah." Tadashi nodded.

"So...maybe he came home."

"You think I didn't check my own house?!" Cass questioned.

"I'm not saying that." Callaghan suddenly noticed a small hole in the wall, no bigger than his thumb. "Has this always been here?"

"What? I don't know. Probably, I have two boys. Look at this place!"

Callaghan opened the garage door, noticing that the knob matched the hole perfectly.

"You're not sure?"

Cass sighed, looking down at her shoes. Mochi began moaning loudly from inside the garage, facing a spot near the corner and growling at it.

"Hey, what's up with this guy, huh?" Callaghan cooed, petting his head to calm him.

"Nothing, he's probably just hungry. Come on." Cass mumbled, picking up the cat and taking it back inside.

Callaghan stood back up, walking towards the spot that Mochi was growling at in suspicion. A loaded gun lay on the floor with a spilled box of bullets next to it. He picked up the box, eyeing it carefully. When he set the box down, the lights gave out loudly, making Callaghan furrow his eyebrows in confusion. He took the flashlight from his belt, shining it all around the garage. A strange squelching noise came from the spot Mochi growled at before. He looked down, shining his flashlight to see a strange black slime. His heart rate began to speed up, when...

"Hey!"

"Jesus!" Callaghan growled, looking at Bill in anger.

"What are you, deaf? I've been calling you."

Callaghan shook in fear, extremely unsettled by the paranormal garage.

"What's going on?"

Callaghan ignored him, walking right past him with determination.

"Are you sure you're okay, Chief?"

"Listen, I want you to call Flo. I want to get a search party together, alright? All the volunteers she can muster. Bring flashlights, too."

"Hey, you think there's a problem here?"

Callaghan ignored him again, entering the house.

* * *

"We should be out there right now. We should be helping look for him."

"We've been over this, Mike. The chief says-"

"I don't care what the chief said!"

"Michael!"

The Wheeler's argued over dinner, well, two of them did at least. Michael didn't care what anyone said. That was one of his best friends out there, and he was sitting in his house just...waiting. For news. For anything. And he couldn't take it anymore.

"We have to do something," he continued, "Hiro can be in danger!"

"More reason to stay put." Mrs. Wheeler mumbled.

"Mom-!"

"End of discussion."

...

"So...me and Gogo are gonna study at her house tonight." Honey Lemon smiled excitedly. "That's cool, right?"

"No, not cool."

"What? Why not?"

"Why do you think? Am I speaking Chinese in this house? Until we know Hiro is okay, no one leaves."

"This is such bullshit."

"Language."

"So we're under house arrest? Just because Mike's friend got lost on his way home from-"

"Wait, this is Hiro's fault?!" Michael fumed at his sister.

"Honey, take that back."

"No!"

"You're just pissed off 'cause you wanna hang out with Steve."

...

"Steve?" Mr. Wheeler asked.

"Who is Steve?"

"Her new boyfriend."

"You are such a douchebag, Mike!" Honey Lemon snarled.

"Language!" Mr. Wheeler yelled.

Honey Lemon rose from her chair, storming out of the room and upstairs.

"Honey, come back." Mrs. Wheeler ordered.

She kept walking.

"Come back!"

The youngest Wheeler, Holly, looked at her mother with worried eyes.

"It's okay. It's okay, Holly. Here, have some juice, okay?"

"You see, Michael?" Mr. Wheeler prodded. "You see what happens?"

"What happens when what?!" Michael shouted. "I'm the only one acting normal here! I'm the only one who cares about Hiro!"

"That is really unfair, son. We care."

Michael lifted his finger to say something before getting up and leaving.

"Michael-"

"Let him go." Mr. Wheeler said. Mrs. Wheeler looked at him in anger as he nonchalantly ate his dinner.

"I hope you're enjoying your chicken, Ted." she snarled, getting up and taking Holly with her.

"What did I do?"

She ignored him, leaving the table.

"Hey! What'd I do?"

* * *

"Hiro!"

"Hiro Hamada!"

"Hiro, we're here for you, bud!"

...

"He's a good student."

"What?"

"Hiro. He's a good student." Mr. Clarke tells Callaghan. "Great one, actually. I don't think we've met. Scott Clarke." he extends his hand. "Teacher, San Fransokyo High. Earth and Biology."

"I always had a distaste for science."

"Well, maybe you had a bad teacher."

"Yeah, Ms. Ratliff was a piece of work."

"Ratliff? You bet. She's still kicking around, believe it or not."

"Oh, I believe it. Mummies never die, so they tell me. Abigail, my daughter...galaxies, the universe, whatnot...she always understood all that stuff. I always figured there was enough going on down here, I never needed to look elsewhere."

"Your daughter, what grade is she? Maybe I'll get her in my class."

"No, she, uh...she lives with her mom in the city."

...

"Thanks for coming out, Teach. We really appreciate it." he said finally before taking a different route to search for Hiro.

"She died a few years back." said a woman from behind the teacher.

"Sorry?"

"His kid." she replied, turning the other way.

* * *

"Wasabi, do you copy? It's Mike. Wasabi?"

Wasabi sat on his bed, extending the antenna on his walkie-talkie.

"Hey, it's Wasabi."

"I know it's you. And say 'over' when you're done talking so I know when your done. Over."

"I'm done. Over." Wasabi said sarcastically.

"I'm worried about Hiro. Over."

"Yeah," Wasabi sighed, laying down, "this is crazy. Over."

"I was thinking... Hiro could've cast protection last night, but he didn't. He cast fireball. Over."

"What's your point? Over."

"My point is...he could've played it safe, but he didn't. He put himself in danger to help the party. Over."

Wasabi sighed in suspicion.

"Meet me in ten. Over and out."

Michael smiled in victory, grabbing his backpack and peddling away from his house. He stopped in front of the house, watching as Steve Harrington pathetically attempted to climb the roof. Steve saw him and waved before continuing with his task.

Michael rolled his eyes and peddled away.

* * *

Honey Lemon sat in her room, shuffling through her note cards in concentration. She bopped her head to her radio playing and she enjoyed being alone.

For about 10 seconds.

 _Tap tap_

Honey Lemon whipped her head to her window, eyes as large as saucers when she saw Steve's face. She marched to the window and threw it open.

"What are you doing here?!" she whisper-yelled. "I told you on the phone, I'm under house arrest!"

"I figured we'd just study here." he shrugged.

"No. No way."

"Oh, come on," Steve grinned, entering the room and making his way toward her desk, "we can't have you failing this test. So just bear with me."

She scoffed, shutting the window with a smile and a shake of the head.

* * *

Ben did the dishes, eyeing Eleven every once in a while as she devoured a pint of strawberry ice cream.

"You like that ice cream, huh?" he teased.

She smiled softly at him.

"Smile looks good on you."

She tilted her head.

"You know, smile?" he smiled largely at her. She nodded and smiled back.

Suddenly, a knock on the door shattered their peace and quiet. Eleven's eyes went wide, searching Benny's for answers.

"All right. You just sit tight. Whoever it is, I'll tell 'em to go away real quick, alright?" he teased again, trying to lighten the mood. They knocked again, making Benny roll his eyes in annoyance, "Yeah, yeah, yeah..." he grabbed the knob, opening to see a woman- late 30s, early 40s- smiling brightly at him. "Hey, can I help you?"

"Hi, you must be Benny Hammond." she greeted.

"I'm afraid I am. I'm afraid we're closed for the evening, too. So try back tomorrow morning-"

"Connie Frazier." she interrupted. "Social Services."

"Ah, Social Services. My apologies. I didn't expect you so soon. That's a heck of a drive."

"Not too bad this time of night."

"Hey, listen, I... I haven't told her you're coming yet. I didn't wanna run her off again. She's a tad skittish."

"Children I work with usually are."

"Right, right."

"So, where is she?"

"Right. She's in the kitchen. Come on up, I'll introduce you."

"Thank you."

"Sorry again for trying to turn you away there."

"It's fine."

"You know, it's funny. Your, uh, your voice sounds different on the-"

 **BANG!**

Eleven gasped as the man that tended to her that night fell dead on the ground, drenched in a pool of his own blood. The woman looked up and stared at Eleven. She sprinted off the counter and darted to the exit. Before she could escape, however, two men with loaded guns blocked the exit. In the back, Dr. Krei entered, stepping over the dead body. His head snapped up when a loud thud came from the front, and he ran to find the two men lying dead on the ground.

And no Eleven.

* * *

Wasabi, Fred, and Michael all rode their bikes together, the cold biting harshly at their every bone.

"Ah, man. This is it." Wasabi sighed as they pulled up to where they found Hiro's bike. Thunder rumbled and lightning flashed as they approached the barriers blocking the way to the area.

"Hey guys, you feel that?" Fred asked, a drop of rain landing on his forehead. "I think maybe we should go back."

"No." Michael demanded, "We're not going back. Just stay close. Come on."

Fred didn't make a move.

"Just stay on channel 6. Don't do anything stupid."

Fred hesitated, watching his friends go past the barriers and into the woods.

"...hey guys! Wait up!"

* * *

"'Which polymers occur naturally?'"

"Starch and...Cellulose."

"Mm-hm." Steve nodded, going to the next card.

"'In a molecule of CH4, the hydrogen atoms are spatially oriented towards the center of-"

"Tetrahedrons."

"Wow. Jesus, how many of these did you make?"

"You said you wanted to help." Honey Lemon shrugged.

"How about this. How about...every time that you get something right, I have to take off an item of clothing. But every time that you get something wrong-'"

"Uh, pass."

"Oh, come on. Come on!"

"No."

"It'll be fun!"

"No!"

"'During fractional distillation, hydrocarbons are separated according to their-'"

"Melting point."

"Ooh. It's boiling points."

"That's what I meant."

"Yeah, that's not what you said." he smirked, unbuttoning his top button.

"No!"

"No? Oh, do you need... Do you need help, or..."

"No." she smiled, leaning into his kiss. He kissed back, reaching over to unbutton her top button.

"Steve, are you crazy? My parents are here."

Steve looked back at the door, furrowing his eyebrow in confusion.

"That's weird, I... I don't see them."

"Was this your plan all along?" Honey Lemon asked, suddenly hurt. "To...to get in my room and then...get another notch on your belt?"

"No, Honey, no-"

"I'm not Laurie, or Amy, or Becky."

"You mean, you're not a slut."

"That's not what I'm saying."

"You know, you're so cute when you lie."

"Shut up." Honey giggled. Steve smiled, grabbing a teddy bear from behind her and making a silly face.

"Bad Steve. Bad."

"You're an idiot, Steve Harrington."

"You're beautiful, Honey Lemon Wheeler."

* * *

"Tadashi, wow. You took these? These are great." Cass kissed Tadashi's cheek, sorting through the mounds of pictures on the table. A majority of them were of Hiro. A tear slid down Cass's cheek. "Wow, they really are... I know I haven't been there for you. I've been...working so hard and I...I just feel bad. I don't even...barely know what's going on with you. I am sorry about that." she sniffed, rubbing his knee. Tears pricked at the corners of Tadashi's eyes as his lip quivered. Cass's eyes filled with even more concern than before.

"Hey, what is it? What is it, honey?"

"Nothing." Tadashi shrugged, sniffling and looking down at his hands as he folded and unfolded them.

"Tell me, tell me. Come on, you can.."

"No." his voice cracked, "It's just...I should've been there for him." he pressed at his eyes with the heels of his hands, his back bouncing with every sob.

"No. Oh, no. You can't do that to yourself. This was not your fault, do you hear me? He is...close. I know it, I... feel it, in my heart. You just have to... you have to trust me on this, okay?"

"Y-yeah..." he replied weakly.

"Oh, look at this. Look at this one." Cass smiled. They both laughed at the photo. It was Hiro. Just Hiro. Perfectly Hiro. "I mean, that's it, right? This is the one we'll use for the poster."

"Yeah." Tadashi nodded happily, laying his head on her shoulder.

"That's it. That's the one."

 _Ring! Ring!_

Cass bolted up from the table, throwing herself at the phone.

"Hello?"

 _SSSSS_

"Hello? Lonnie? Callaghan?"

 _SSSSS_

"Who is this?"

Breathing came from the other end. Cass gasped.

"Hiro?!"

"It's Hiro?!" Tadashi jumped from his seat, rushing to her side.

A growling came from the other end, getting closer to the phone.

"Aunt Cass, it's Hiro?!"

Cass sobbed violently, the growling noise making the breathing get faster.

"Who is this?!"

 _GGGRRRSSS_

"What have you done to my boy?!"

"What? What?!" Tadashi cried.

"Give me back my nephew-!"

 _CRACK_

The phone shocked, making Cass drop it in fear. Both sides of it were burnt. Tadashi picked it up anyway, bringing it to his ear.

"Hello? Hello, who is this?! Hello?!"

Cass continued crying and screaming in fear behind him.

"Aunt Cass, who was it? What was it?!"

"It was him," she sobbed.

"Look at me, Aunt Cass! Was it Hiro?!"

"Yes!"

"What did he say?!"

"He just breathed. He just breathed!"

"And someone else was there?"

"I...IT WAS HIM!"

"AUNT CASS!"

"HIRO!"

* * *

"Hiro!"

"Hey, Hamada!"

"I've got your X-Men 134!"

...

"Guys, I seriously think we should turn back!" Fred shouted over the sheet of rain that came down above.

"Seriously, Fred?!" Wasabi groaned. "You wanna be a baby? Go home already!"

"I'm just being realistic, Wasabi!"

"No, you're just being a sissy!"

"Did you ever think Will went missing because he ran into something bad? And we're going into the exact spot where he was last seen? And we have no weapons or anything?"

"Fred, shut up."

"I'm just saying, does that seem smart to you?"

"Shut up. Shut up." Michael stopped.

"What?"

"Did you guys hear that?"

A rustling sound came from behind, making them all jump and turn towards the sound. They all gasped when they saw a teenager with a shaved head and a large yellow shirt on, dripping wet.


	2. The Weirdo on Maple Street

**Author's Note:**

 **I guess I'm back if that's cool.**

* * *

Eleven breathed heavily in shock, trying to fight her cold after wandering alone in the storm. All she knows is that three boys around her age frantically took her to a house in concern and have been prodding her with questions ever since. The last time she trusted someone, he was shot in the head. So she didn't say a word.

"Is there a number we can call for your parents?"

"Where's your hair? Do you have cancer?"

"Did you run away?"

"Are you in some kind of trouble?"

"Is that blood?" Wasabi pointed to a large blood soaked spot on her shirt in concern. He leaned toward her as her breathing quickened in fear.

"Stop it!" Michael snapped. "You're freaking her out!"

"She's freaking me out!"

"I bet she's deaf." Fred suggested, clapping loudly in her face. She gasped, jumping in her seat. "Not deaf."

"All right, that's enough!" Michael yelled with a wave of his hand. "She's just scared and cold." he turned around, grabbing a few of his clothes and handing them to her. "Here, these are clean. Okay?"

She eyed the clothes suspiciously, hesitating to accept the warm, tempting clothing. Finally, she sighed, taking the incredibly soft outfit and rubbing it against her cheek. She smiled at it's warmth and set the clothes next to her.

She stood, beginning to undress.

"No, no, no!"

"Oh my God! Oh my God!"

Michael rubbed her shoulder as she looked at him in confusion. "See over there?" he stammered. "That's the bathroom. Privacy, get it?"

She nodded in apology, grabbing the clothing and walking towards said bathroom. She entered, taking in her surroundings. It was incredibly small, a little too small for her comfort. Michael followed her, shutting the door behind her.

Well, almost shutting it.

Her eyes widened, holding the door before it clicked shut. Michael tilted his head.

"You don't want it closed?"

"No." she said softly, almost as if it came from the back of her throat.

"Oh, so you can speak. Okay, well...Um, how about we just keep the door..." he cracked the door so that there was still at least two inches of space between the frame and the door. "Just like this. Is that better?"

"Yes." she whispered.

Michael nodded happily, stepping away to give her privacy.

"This is mental." Fred said worriedly.

"At least she can talk." Michael shrugged.

"She said 'no' and 'yes'. Your three-year-old sister can say more."

"She tried to get naked." Fred reminded.

"There's something seriously wrong with her. Like, wrong in the head. I bet she escaped from Pennhurst."

"From where?"

"The nuthouse in Kerley County."

"You got a lot of family there?"

"Bite me." Wasabi scolded. "Seriously, though. Think about it! That would explain her shaved hair and why she's so crazy. She's an escapee is the point. She's probably a psycho!"

"Like Michael Wheeler." Fred suggested.

"Exactly!" Wasabi cried. "We should have never brought her here!"

"So you just wanted to leave her there in the storm?"

"Yes! We went out to find Hiro, not another problem."

"I think we should tell your mom." Fred demanded.

"I second that."

Michael stared at them, jaw dropped.

"Who's crazy now?!" Michael asked in disbelief.

"How is that crazy?" Wasabi complained.

"'Cause we weren't supposed to be out tonight, remember?"

"So?"

"So if I tell my mom and she tells your mom and your mom..."

"Oh, man," Fred face palmed in confusion and annoyance.

"Our houses become Alcatraz."

"Exactly. We'll never find Hiro."

Fred and Wasabi exchange nervous glances.

"All right, here's the plan," Michael begins to reason, "she sleeps here tonight."

"You're letting a girl-"

"Just listen!" Michael barks at Fred. "In the morning, she sneaks around my house, goes to the front door and rings my doorbell. My mom will answer and know exactly what to do. She'll send her back to Pennhurst or wherever she comes from. We'll be totally in the clear. And tomorrow night, we go back out. And this time, we find Hiro."

The three boys look at each other with positivity this time, and Wasabi and Fred gathered their backpacks before rushing up the basement stairs. Michael sighed and turned to Eleven, who was now dressed in a warmer outfit. He set up a fort for her to sleep in that was well hidden in a corner. He smiled warmly at her before handing her a bundle of blankets.

"Here you go. This is my sleeping bag," he says with a smile. She smiled back and takes the blankets happily. As she lays them out, Michael looks at the ground and bites his lip before asking...

"Hey, um, I never asked your name."

She looks up with the slightest bit of fear in her eyes before looking down at her arm and pulling up her sleeve. Michael looks at it with confusion and concern.

The numbers **011** are tattooed on her forearm.

"Is that real?" he asks in disbelief, reaching forward to touch it. Before he can get closer she snaps her arm back in fear. He quickly leans back. "S-sorry. I've just never seen a kid with a tattoo before. What's it mean? Eleven?"

She points at her chest twice and looks down in shame.

"That's your name?"

She nods. Michael isn't surprised at her silence and nods in understanding.

"Eleven. Okay. Um, well, my name's Mike. Short for Michael. Maybe we can call you El. Short for Eleven."

She nods, very fond of the idea. Mike nods back with a smile.

"Um, well, okay. 'Night, El." he says softly, standing up and turning to the stairs.

"'Night, Mike."

He looks at her with shock before chuckling under his breath and turning to the stairs. El lays down, jumping at each clap of thunder and every strike of lighting.

Her lip began to tremble as she slowly sobbed herself to sleep.

 **CHAPTER TWO**

 **THE WEIRDO ON MAPLE STREET**

"All right, mom. Breakfast is ready."

The two Hamadas had been up all night trying to figure out the meaning of the phone call they received from Hiro. After hours of thinking, they decided to start on Hiro's poster. There wasn't a sleeping soul in the cafe that night and there probably wouldn't be until Hiro was home and safe.

"What? No, be careful of te poster." Cass said, clearing the mounds of papers on the table. Tadashi shook his head and set the plates down.

"Yeah, okay."

...

"I can't eat."

"I just need you to eat, Aunt Cass."

"Listen, listen, the Xerox place opens in, like, 30 minutes."

"Yeah."

"And I don't want you to go alone."

"I told you, I got it."

"So I'm gonna have Karen take you, cause I should be here."

"Okay."

"We need to make, what, 200, 300 copies? How much is a copy?"

"Yeah, okay, Aunt Cass."

"If we...ten cents..."

"Aunt Cass!"

Aunt Cass jumped in shock, looking up at her nephew with fear. She shook her head, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"You can't get like this, okay?"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry-"

"No, it's okay," Tadashi reassured her. He rubbed her back and smiled softly as she let her head drop and put her cigarette in her mouth.

A knock on the door made their heads snap up so fast one of them could've broken their necks. Cass ran to the door and tore it open, huffing in anger at who she saw.

"We've been waiting for six hours."

"I know, I came as soon as I could."

"Six. Hours."

"A little bit of trust here, all right?" Callaghan sighed. "We've been searching all night. Went all the way to Cartersville."

"And?"

"Nothing."

"God." Cass gasped, covering her mouth with her hand and breathing heavily. Tadashi looked at the ground in disbelief. No sign of him. No sign of his baby brother. Not a trace. Almost as if he disappeared into thin air. He clenched and unclenched his fists as his chest began to feel tight.

"Flo says you got a phone call?"

"Oh, yeah," she sniffled, leading him to the phone on the wall. He picks up the phone and examines the burn marks.

"Storm barbecued this pretty good," Callaghan says nonchalantly.

"The storm?"

"What else?"

"You're saying that's not...weird?!"

"No, it's weird."

"Can we, like, trace who made the call? Contact the-"

"No, it doesn't work like that. Now, uh, you're sure it was Will? Because Flo said you just heard some breathing."

"No, it was him. It was Will. And he was scared. And then something-"

"It was probably just a prank call. It was somebody trying to scare you."

"Who would do that?!"

"Well, this thing's been on TV. It brings out all the crazies. False leads, prank calls, uh..."

"No, Callaghan, it was not a prank. It was him."

"Cass."

"Come on, how about a little trust here?" Cass quoted the sheriff with a shaky voice. Callaghan sighed and looked away. "What, you think that I'm-I'm making this up?"

"I'm not saying that you're making it up. All I'm saying is it's an emotional time for you."

"And you don't think I know my own son's breathing? Wouldn't you know your own daughter's?"

Callaghan swallowed hard and walked to the other side of the room slowly, pretending to examine the room when he was really in deep thought.

"You here from, uh, Lonnie yet?"

"No."

"It's been long enough. I'm having him checked out." Callaghan says firmly, putting his hat on and heading towards the door.

"Oh, come on!" Cass sighs, "You're wasting your time!"

He slams the door as Cass grabs her head in anger. Tadashi rubs her shoulder and runs to follow him.

"Hey, Callaghan!" he shouts, sprinting down the sidewalk to his car. "Let me go."

"I'm sorry?"

"To Lonnie's. You know, if Hiro's there, it means he ran away. And if he sees the cops, he'll think he's in trouble. He'll... he'll hide. You know, he's good at hiding."

"Yeah? Well, cops are good at finding. Okay?" Callaghan snaps, grabbing Tadashi by the shoulders and hardly lifting him up. "Stay here with your mom. She needs you." he shoves him away gets back in his car, slamming the door and driving away.

* * *

Michael grabs the warm waffles out of the toaster and quickly shoved them in his pocket. He leaves two for himself and rushes to the table, placing them on his plate and joining his family for breakfast. He grabs his waffles and bites into them quickly, unaware of the fact that his whole family is staring him down with disgust.

"Slow down, Mike," Honey Lemon scolds him, "that's disgusting."

"Do a lot of studying last night?" Michael asks with a full mouth.

"Yeah, actually, I did."

"What was your test on again? Human anatomy?"

Honey Lemon glares at him and kicks him from under the table.

"Hey, what's going on?" Karen asks from across the table as she feeds Holly applesauce.

"Nothing," the siblings say in unison.

Michael swallows his second waffle whole and rushes to the basement, opening Eleven's fort curtain and smiles brightly.

"Got you breakfast," he says, handing her two golden brown waffles.

She takes a bite of it with a smile.

"So listen, this is gonna sound a little weird, but I just need you to go out there," he points to the basement door, "then go to the front door and ring the doorbell. My mom will answer and you'll tell her that you're lost and that you need help. But whatever you do, you can't tell her about last night or that you know me. Understand?"

She looks at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Really, it's no big deal. We'll just pretend to meet each other again. And my mom... she'll know who to call."

"No."

...

"No?"

"No."

"No... you don't want my mom to get help?"

She looks up at him and shakes her head.

"You're in trouble, aren't you?"

Silence.

"Who... who are you in trouble with?"

"Bad." she says softly, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Bad? Bad people?"

She nods.

"They want to hurt you? The bad people?"

She points her hand to her temple in the form of a gun. Then, she points it at Michael's chest.

"Understand?" she asks.

"Mike! Where are you?! We're gonna be late! Let's go!"

"All right, I'm gonna be back. Just stay here, okay? Stay here."

He closes the curtain and rushes up the steps, leaving Eleven alone.

Again.

* * *

"When was this?"

"Last night. Less than two miles away."

"And the boy?"

"Still missing."

Krei huffs, stomping into another room down the long hallway. He grabs a pair of headphones off of a table in the center of the room and presses a button on a large box.

 _"It was my son! I know it! And I...I heard something else."_

 _"Something else?"_

 _"It was like, uh, some kind of animal. I don't know. Just please tell Call to hurry."_

He takes the headphones off, taking a deep breath as he looks into his colleague's eyes.

* * *

"Hiro! Hiro Hamada!"

"Hiro! Hiro!"

"How's Cass?" an officer asks Callaghan.

"About one step from falling off the edge." he says with a sigh.

"She's been a few steps for a while now, hasn't she?" another officer asks.

"Kid's missing, man," he says angrily before turning back to the volunteers. "All right, come on, let's go! We got a lot of ground to cover."

"The chief and her," one of the officers whispers to the other, "they've screwed before, huh?"

The other officer shakes his head with a smile before joining the volunteers.

"Hiro!"

* * *

"When alpha particles go through gold foil, they become..."

"Unoccupied space."

"A molecule that can-"

Steve comes up from behind Gogo and Honey and snatches the study cards from Gogo's hands.

"Hey!"

"I don't know, I think you've studied enough, Honey."

"Steve-"

"I'm telling you, you know, you got this. Don't worry. Now, on to more important matters. My dad has left town on a conference and my mom's gone with him 'cause you know, she doesn't trust him."

"Good call." two of his friends come up behind him, smirking.

"So are you in?"

"In for what?" Honey Lemon asks as Gogo looks on nervously.

"No parents? Big house?" Steve's friend comments.

"...a party?"

"Ding ding ding!"

"It's a Tuesday." Honey Lemon says with confusion.

"It's a Tuesday!" one of them mocks with a laugh.

"It'll be low key. It'll be just us. What do you say? Are you in or are you out?"

"Um..."

"Oh, God. Look."

They all look across the hall to see Tadashi, pale-faced, messy hair, pinning posters on every bulletin board he could find.

"Well, that's depressing." Steve sighs.

"Should we say something?" Honey asks in concern.

"I don't think he speaks." one of them chuckled.

"How much do you wanna bet he killed him?"

"Shut up." Steve shoves his friend's shoulder.

Honey Lemon ignores their snickering and slowly approaches the worried teen.

"Hey," she says with a soft smile. His bloodshot eyes meet her calm green ones and he tries his best to look at least a little happy.

"Oh, hey."

"I just... I wanted to say, you know, um... I'm sorry. About everything."

Tadashi glances behind her at the three teenagers laughing quietly. Gogo looks over at her with a smile.

"Everyone's thinking about you," Honey Lemon continues, "It, uh, it sucks."

"Yeah," Tadashi shrugs, looking down at his shoes.

"I'm sure he's fine. He's a smart kid."

Tadashi thought about her words. She wasn't wrong. As long as Tadashi could remember, Hiro was building bots and fixing broken mixers for Aunt Cass. He may be smart, but Tadashi wondered if he could make it out of this one.

His thoughts were interrupted by a loud ringing. The school bell.

"I have to go," Honey Lemon chuckles, "chemistry test."

"Yeah," he laughs under his breath.

"Good luck," she nods, walking back to her friends.

"Thanks."

Tadashi looks at the poster of his brother nervously, taking in his every feature. A sudden static noise had him walking towards the door.

" _Attention, faculty and students. At 8:00 p.m. tonight, there will be an assembly on the football field in support of Hiro Hamada and his family. All are encouraged to attend. Volunteer sign-ups for search parties are still available in the office._ "

* * *

"Oh, this is weird," Fred sighs, looking at the empty desk next to him, "he's never this late."

"I'm telling you, his stupid plan failed."

"I thought you liked his plan," Fred frowns.

"Yeah, but obviously it was stupid, or he'd be here."

"If his mom found out a girl spent the night-"

"He's in deep shit right about now."

"What if she slept naked?" Fred asks with wide eyes.

"Oh, my god, she didn't."

"Oh, if Mrs. Wheeler tells my parents..."

"No way. Mike would never rat us out."

"I don't know."

"All that matters is, after school, the freak will be back in the loony bin, and we can focus on what really matters, finding Hiro."

* * *

"You want anything to drink? We have OJ, skim milk... What else?"

Eleven loses track of what he's saying and examines their living room. Mike notices this and smiles to himself.

"Oh, this is my living room. It's mostly just for watching TV. Nice, right? It's a 22-inch. But Fred's is, like, ten times bigger."

He stops rambling when he notices Eleven looking over the family photos on the mantle piece. She looks at one of Nancy and smiles.

"Pretty."

"I guess. That's my sister, Honey Lemon. Well, that's her nickname anyway. She hates her real name."

Eleven nods, moving onto a picture of Holly.

"And that's baby Holly."

She moves onto a picture of Ted and Karen.

"And those are my parents. What are your parents like? Do they live close?"

She ignores him, going to touch a green recliner in the center of the room.

"That's our La-Z-Boy. It's where my dad sleeps. You can try it, if you want."

She looks at him nervously, slowly walking towards the front and taking a seat.

"Just trust me, okay?" he smirks, pulling the lever and letting the chair fly backward. Eleven laughs in amusement.

"See? Fun, right?" he chuckles, pulling the chair back up. "Now you try."

She nods, pulling the lever and letting the chair fly back again. She laughs again, a little louder this time.

Their eyes meet and they both go into a belly-laugh.

* * *

Tadashi stares blankly at the road, fists clenched on the wheel tightly. Music plays loudly on the radio to clear his mind but it doesn't seem to help. "Should I Stay or Should I Go" comes on the radio and he immediately glances over to the radio.

 _"You like it?" Tadashi asks as the stereo plays the old rock song. Hiro nods with his signature gap-toothed smile._

 _"Yeah, it's cool."_

 _"All right, you can keep the mix if you want."_

 _"Really?"_

 _"Yeah, really," he laughs, "All the best stuff's on there. Joy Division, Bowie, Television, The Smiths... It'll totally change your life."_

 _"Yeah, totally," Hiro smirks._

 _"Where the hell are you, Lonnie?" Cass's voice was heard from the other room and Tadashi looked down at his folded hands. "I don't want to hear it, I don't want to hear it! This is ridiculous, I'm so sick of your excuses!"_

 _Tadashi gets up and shuts the door, returning to his seat and looking back at his brother with a soft smile._

 _"Uncle Lonnie's not coming, is he?" Hiro asks._

 _"Do you even like baseball?"_

 _"No, but... I don't know. It's fun to go with him sometimes."_

 _"Come on. Has he ever done anything with you that you actually like? You know, like the arcade or something?"_

 _"I don't know."_

 _"No, all right? He hasn't. He's trying to force you to like normal things. And you shouldn't like things because people tell you you're supposed to. Okay? Especially not him."_

 _Hiro nods, bopping his head to the music._

 _"But you like The Clash? For real?"_

 _"For real. Definitely."_

Tadashi shakes his head, wiping the stray tear off his cheek and passing the San Fransokyo city limit sign.

* * *

Cass pulls into the grocery store parking lot, walking briskly towards a certain aisle.

"Cass?" the store manager approaches her. "I wasn't expecting you out on the town today."

"Yeah, the uh...the storm last night, I... I need a new phone."

The store manager nods with a knowing smile, picking one out for her and leading her to the cash register.

"Okay, that looks likes $22.56."

"Yeah, uh... I gave Tadashi all my money for...for the copies for Hiro's posters."

"Yes, well, of course. Of course."

"Thank you so much." Cass sighs with guilt.

* * *

"We're all clear," a man says into a walky-talky, checking the Hamada household windows.

" _Copy that,_ " came the reply from the other line. The man looked back at the van parked across the street as three men in protective suits stepped out of it. They walk towards the alley way next to it, examining the garage. Krei steps inside, holding a device out in front of him. Said device began to beep loudly as he approached a corner of the garage where a loaded gun lay on the floor. An oozing sound was heard next to it and, sure enough, there was a strange gooey substance coming from the wall.

"Extraordinary."

* * *

"Ready are you? What knows you of ready?"

Eleven looks at him with confusion splattered across her face.

"His name's Yoda," Mike explains, examining the tiny action figure, "He can use the force to move things with his mind, like this. Whoosh!" he shoved all of the action figures across the table. Eleven only looks away, unamused. She gets up as something else grabs her attention. Mike doesn't notice. "Oh, this is my dinosaur, Rory. Look, he has a speaker in his mouth so he can roar."

He finally notices that she's gone and gets up to see what she's doing. She's bent over, examining the trophies on his shelf.

"Oh, these are all my science fair trophies. We got first every year. Except for last year when we got third. Mr. Clarke said it was totally political."

She notices a certain picture paper-clipped to the top of a trophy. Michael, Fred, Wasabi, and Hiro are in it, standing next to a large trophy and grinning from ear to ear. Eleven gasps when she sees a familiar face in the photo.

"What?" Michael asks, noticing her shaking breath.

She slowly lifts her finger and points at Hiro. Michael looks at her with shock.

"You know Hiro? Did you see him? Last night? On the road?"

Their conversation is interrupted when a sudden roaring engine comes to their attention. There, in the driveway, is his mom's car, slowly pulling in.

"We gotta go," Mike says, grabbing Eleven's arm and rushing out of the room.

"I bought pizza and macaroni," Karen tells Holly. "Okay?"

Eleven and Michael immediately rush back up the stairs. Karen frowns.

"Ted? Is that you?"

"Just me, mom!"

"Mike? What are you doing home?"

"Just a sec!"

He leads Eleven back to his room, opening the closet door.

"In here. I'll be right back, okay?"

She looks at the closet with fear.

"Please, you have to get in, or my mom, she'll find you. Do you understand? I won't tell her about you. I promise."

"Promise?"

"It means something that you can't break," he explains, "ever."

"Michael?" Karen calls again.

"Please," Michael begs.

Eleven sighs, stepping in the closet with fear. The door shuts and she's left alone in the small, dark space. She closes her eyes, trying to avoid bad memories but they come flooding in anyway.

 _"Pop! Papa!" she sobs as she gets carried away by two strong men. "Papa! No!"_

 _She looks behind her at the long hallway. Krei is standing there, looking at her with disappointment._

 _"Papa!" she calls to him again. They turn the corner and he fades away, out of sight._

 _"No! No! No!" she gasps as they head towards a small room. The two men throw her in and slam the heavy door in her face. She stands up and bangs on it frantically. "Papa! Papa!" she screams, slowly backing up and going to the corner, sliding down the wall and hugging her legs._

 _"Papa."_

Eleven slides down the wall, hugging her legs and sobbing quietly.

"I just... I don't feel good." Michael explains to his mother on the couch. "I woke up and my head, it hurt really bad, and my throat was all scratchy, and I wanted to tell you, but the last time I told you I was sick you made me go to school anyway, and-"

"Michael."

"Yeah?"

"I'm not mad at you."

"No?"

"No, of course not," she sighs, "All this that's been going on with Hiro... I can't imagine what it's been like for you. I just... I want you to feel like you can talk to me. I never want you to feel like you have to hide anything from me. I'm here for you, okay?"

Michael nods in understanding. They both exchange smiles before a thud is heard from upstairs.

"Is there someone else here?"

"No," Michael shrugs. Karen nods and gets up from the couch as Michael rushes up the stairs to check on Eleven.

"Eleven? Is everything okay?" he opens the closet door and finds the girl curled up on the ground, crying.

"Mike."

"Is everything okay?"

She inhales sharply and nods at him.

"Are you sure?"

She nods again, this time with a soft smile.

"Promise."

* * *

"Hiro, we are here for you!"

"Don't be afraid!"

The calls continued on, filled with hope despite the lack of response. They were now searching at the San Fransokyo bay and had been for 2 hours. There was still no sign of the boy, not even a trace. Callaghan sighed, noticing one of his colleagues standing on a rock overlooking the ocean. He steps a little closer to the edge, alarming Callaghan.

"Woah, woah, careful," he warns, "I need you alive for the next few days, at least."

"Oh, hell, I could survive that," the young officer laughs. Callaghan laughs as well, but not with him. At him. The officer glares. "What? George Burness made the jump. And he was drunk as a skunk. He did it on a 10$ bet."

"George is a liar," Callaghan scoffs, "You make that jump from this height, that water turns into cement. Hits you like a ton of bricks. Break every damn bone in your body."

"Nah."

" _Chief, do you copy?_ " Flo's voice comes over his speaker. He grabs it to respond.

"Yeah, Flo, talk to me."

" _Hey, chief, we got a call from over at Benny's. I think you need to get there right away._ "

The officers glance at each other before returning to their vehicles.

* * *

"Ugh, Jesus!"

The smell of the body in the diner immediately makes the officers back away. Callaghan circles the body in remorse, utterly dumbfounded at the diner owner.

"Suicide?" an officer suggests.

"Mm-hm," Callaghan agrees. The other officer sighs.

"Missing kid, suicide...you must feel like a big city cop again, huh, chief?"

"Well, I mostly dealt with strangers back then," Callaghan looks anywhere but at Benny, completely disgusted at the mere sight of him. "Benny was my friend."

* * *

Tadashi squints from the rain covered car windows, trying to locate his Uncle's house. After finding it, he immediately pulls in, slams the car door, and runs up to the front porch. He glances through the glass on the window, seeing nothing but grease stains and tipped over milk cartons. He bangs on the door angrily.

"Hello!"

"Yeah, yeah," a woman comes into view, walking angrily towards the door. She opens it and takes in the teen's appearance. "Can I help you?"

"Yeah, is Lonnie around?"

"He's out back. What do you want?"

"To look around," he says simply, shoving her to the side to gain entrance to the small building. "I'll be fast."

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?" she barks. He ignores her, rushing to the hallways.

"Hiro? Hiro! Hiro, you here?" he bangs on a locked door, calling his name desperately. He looks in the room across from it, but there's no sign of him. He walks down the other side of the hallway.

Only for his Uncle to slam into him and shove him onto the wall. Tadashi breathes in anger.

"Get off!" he demands, pushing him away. His uncle only shakes his head in amusement.

"Damn, you've gotten stronger."

"Will someone please explain what the hell is going on?!" the woman from before pleads, coming between the two of them. Lonnie lightly pushes her to the side.

"Tadashi, Cynthia. Cynthia, this is Tadashi. My oldest," he smiles softly at Tadashi, leaning forward to hug him. "Come here."

"Get off me, man."

* * *

Wasabi and Fred quickly peddle to Michael's house, desperate for a reason why he wasn't at school that day. When they arrive, Karen tells them he's in his room, and when they rush up the stairs, they immediately freeze.

She hadn't left. She was still here.

"Are you out of your mind?"

"Just listen to me-"

"You are out of your mind!"

"She knows about Hiro."

"What do you mean she knows about Hiro?" Fred gasps, interrupting the tension between the two. Michael walks to the trophy shelf, grabbing the picture that she recognized.

"She pointed at him, in this picture. She knew he was missing, I could tell."

"You could tell?"

"Just think he about it. Do you really think it was a coincidence that we found her on Mirkwood? The same place where Hiro disappeared?"

"That is weird," Fred pointed out, looking at Wasabi with furrowed eyebrows.

"And she said bad people were after her. I think that maybe these bad people are the same ones that took Hiro. I think she knows what happened to him."

"Then why doesn't she tell us?" Wasabi asks, glaring daggers at her. She looks up in fear as he marches towards her. "Do you know where he is?"

After no response, his breathing picks up.

"Do you know where he is?!" he shouts, grabbing her shoulders.

"Stop it! You're scaring her!"

"She should be scared! If you know where he is, tell us!"

Her lip trembles as she looks on with innocent eyes.

"This is nuts! We have to take her to your mom."

"No! Eleven said telling any adult would put us in danger."

"What...What kind of danger?" Fred asked nervously.

"Her name is Eleven?"

"El for short," Michael nods, turning back to Fred.

"Mike, what kind of danger?"

"Danger danger." he forms his hand into a gun shape and points it at Fred's head.

And then Wasabi's.

"No, no, no! We're going to plan A, we're telling your mom," he says finally, marching towards the door.

Before he can get it halfway open, it slams shut,

He gasps, grabbing the handle again, only for it to slam, locking in the process. All three of them look at Eleven in fear and notice the blood dripping from her nose. She takes a deep breath and closes her eyes.

"No."

* * *

"Take a look at this beaut. Should've seen it when I got it. Took me a year, but it's almost done."

Lonnie crosses his arms and smirks at the mustang he's worked so hard to get. Tadashi ignores him, stomping through the rain and throwing the trunk door open.

"Really? You wanna check up my ass, too?"

Tadashi glares at him, slamming the trunk shut.

"I told you the same thing I told those cops, he's not here and he never has been."

"Then why didn't you call Cass back?"

"I don't know, I just... I assumed she forgot where he was. You know, he was lost or something. That boy never was very good at taking care of himself."

"This isn't some joke, alright?! There are search parties, reporters-"

"Callaghan's not still chief, is he?"

Tadashi's anger rises and Lonnie lowers his head.

"Tell your Aunt she's gotta get you out of that hell hole. Come out here to the small town. People are more real here, you know? And then I could see you more."

Tadashi shakes his head.

"What, you think I don't want to see you?"

"I know you don't."

"See, that's your Aunt talking right there. She even know you're here?"

Tadashi stares at him silently, rain dripping onto his face and into his shoes.

"Oh, great. So one kid goes missing, the other runs wild? Some real fine parenting right there. Look, all I'm saying is, maybe I'm not the asshole, all right?"

Tadashi sniffs and pulls a poster out of his bag, shoving on his Uncle's chest.

"In case you forgot what he looks like."

* * *

"You, uh, notice anything...odd about him the last few weeks?"

"No, we're fixin' to go fishing down the Etowah next Sunday," Benny's friend explains to the chief, looking down at his lap. "I mean, he was lookin' forward to it. I know that."

"He got any enemies you might know about? I mean, people who might not want him around?"

"The exes didn't like him much. That's for sure, but...nah."

"When was the last time you saw him?"

"Yesterday. Lunch, as always."

"Just you and the boys?"

"Yep. Me and Henry and...well, there was, uh...this kid. No kid did this."

"Kid?" Callaghan asked with a raised brow. "What are you talking about?"

"Yeah, at lunch, uh, there was this boy that, uh...I mean, he was trying to steal food out of Benny's kitchen. Can you imagine that?"

"This kid...what'd he look like?"

"Well, he was about yea high. You know. tiny like. I didn't get a good look at him, though. He was back in the kitchen."

"He look like this?" an officer asks, showing him a picture of Hiro.

"Oh, no, that's Lonnie's missing kid. No. This was a different kid. This one had really short hair. I mean, it was buzzed nearly down to the scalp."

"Yeah, well, let's...let's forget about the haircut. If this kid had a buzz cut...could it be Lonnie's kid?"

"I didn't get a good look at him. About the right height, though. Could've been."

Callaghan nodded, grabbing the picture and placing it on his desk with a sigh.

* * *

"Because I don't wanna go all by myself. Gogo...Gogo, it's not rocket science. You just tell your parents you're gonna stay at my place afterward."

Honey Lemon sighed. It would take more than a little persuading to convince Gogo to hang out at Steve's house of all places, but she wasn't giving up just yet. She knew Gogo, and if she was right, it would just take a few more sentences before she gives in.

"No...tell them we're...studying."

"Honey!" Karen interrupts from the kitchen, "Dinner's ready!"

"Coming!" she replies, sighing as she raises the phone back up to her ear. "I gotta go. I'll see you in an hour."

She hangs up and skips down the stairs, rushing to the table so not to upset her mother. She mentally groans when she notices two extra people at the table tonight.

Fred and Wasabi.

She takes her seat anyway, right next to Michael, thanking her mother for the meal. Michael looks at the meal on his plate with a squinted eye.

"Something wrong with the meatloaf?" Karen asks the boys. Fred looks up and slowly smiles.

"Oh, no, I had two bologna sandwiches for lunch. I don't know why."

"Me too," Wasabi chuckles.

"It's delicious, Mommy," Honey Lemon reassures her.

"Thank you, sweetie."

"So, there's this...special assembly thing tonight...for Hiro at the school field. Gogo's driving."

"Why am I just now hearing about this?" Karen asks with a raised eyebrow.

"I thought you knew."

"I told you, I don't want anyone out after dark until Hiro is found."

"I know, I know, but it'd be super weird if I'm not there. I mean, everyone's going."

Karen sighs, looking around the table and then at her plate.

"Just...be back by 10:00," she says with a nod, "and, why don't you take the boys, too?"

"No!" they all say in unison, not falling for Honey Lemon's act one bit.

"Don't you guys wanna be there? For Hiro?"

Michael shrugs, taking a sip of his milk and choking on it as he notices Eleven coming down the stairs. Karen notices this, and before she can turn around, Fred bangs on the table, blushing afterward.

"Sorry. Spasm."

"Nice," Honey Lemon groans.

* * *

"Better come out, buddy."

"Hiro?! Where are you?!"

The volunteers were directed to the scene of the crime at Benny's Burgers to look for Hiro. There hadn't been a sign of him yet, of course, but still, the volunteers hadn't given up hope. They had been provided flashlights, dogs, and walkie-talkies, but none of the three seemed to be helping much. An officer came behind Callaghan with his flashlight.

"Hey, you think Earl really saw Hiro? I mean, what's he doin' with a shaved head? And stealing food from Benny?"

"Tell you what, when we find him, we'll ask," Callaghan snarls. Another officer approaches the two.

"Can't ask a corpse questions."

Callaghan glares at him before snapping his head up at the sound of a whistle blowing repeatedly.

"Hold up!" a volunteer shouts, and Callaghan immediately rushes towards them.

"You got something?" he shouts, running to see Mr. Clarke was the one shouting. "You got something over here?" he asks again.

"Not sure," he replies, gesturing towards a drainpipe. "Found this, in there," he gives Callaghan a torn piece of fabric and shines his lights in the tunnel.

"No way a kid crawls through there," an officer says in awe.

"I don't know," Callaghan grunts as he struggles to see inside, "a scared enough one might. His brother said he was good at hiding."

Mr. Clarke nods slowly, looking at the drainpipe in concern. The three officers stand up, following the drainpipe to wherever it may lead. Mr. Clarke follows suit, shining his flashlight every which way. Their search is put to an end when they discover a fence blocking the rest of the way with "Restricted" signs posted all over it.

The San Fransokyo Laboratory.

* * *

Eleven sits in her fort, pressing buttons on a radio that was laying on the ground. She turns knobs and taps on it but still doesn't seem to understand how it works. She sighs, continuing to press buttons anyway.

"El?" Mike calls from the top of the stairs. El looks up, Fred, Wasabi and Mike coming into view. Mike is holding a tray and he smiles at her. "No adults, just us and some meatloaf."

Eleven looks up at Fred and Wasabi in fear.

"Don't worry. They won't tell anyone about you. They promise. Right?"

"We never would've upset you if we knew you had superpowers," Fred says with his hands up.

Michael turns back to punch him in the knee before turning back to Eleven in concern.

"What Fred is trying to say is that they were just scared earlier. That's all."

"We just wanted to find our friend," Wasabi mumbles with guilt.

"'Friend?'" Eleven asks in confusion.

"Yeah, friend," Wasabi nods, "Hiro?"

"What is 'friend'?" Eleven asks again.

"Is she serious?" Wasabi whispers to Fred. Fred shrugs and frowns. Wasabi turns back to her and tries to think of the proper response. "Um, a friend-"

"Is someone that you'd do anything for." Michael rushes to respond. Fred nods and smiles.

"You lend them your cool stuff, like comic books and trading cards."

"And they never break a promise," Michael adds.

"Especially when there's spit."

"Spit?" Eleven asks in disgust.

"Yep," Fred sighs, spitting into his hand "a spit swear means you can never break your word," he grabs Wasabi's hand and shakes it before turning back to her, "It's a bond."

Wasabi looks at Fred with wide eyes, then back to his hand.

"That's super important, because friends...they tell each other things. Things that parents don't know."

Eleven looks up at the two boys nervously, unsure if they are to be trusted.

* * *

"Gogo, pull over."

"What?"

"Pull over!"

Gogo sighs, pulling the car to the side of the road/

"What are we doing here? His house is three blocks away."

"We can't park in the driveway," Honey Lemon explains.

"Are you serious?" Gogo asks with an annoyed expression.

"Yeah, the neighbors might see."

"This is so stupid, I'm just gonna drop you off."

"Calm down, Gogo! Come on, you promised that you'd go, you're coming. We're gonna have a great time-"

"He just wants to get in your pants."

"No, he doesn't," Honey Lemon looks down with hurt eyes.

"Honey...seriously. He invited you to his house. His parents aren't home. Come on, you are not this stupid."

"Tommy H. and Carol are gonna be there!"

"Tommy and Carol have been having sex since, like, sixth grade. It'll probably just be, like, a big orgy."

"Gross."

"I'm serious!" Gogo laughs.

"All right, well...you can be, like, my guardian. Okay? Make sure I don't get drunk and do something stupid."

"Ugh."

After walking for a few minutes in silence, they go to the front door of Steve's house. Honey Lemon rings the door bell and waits.

Gogo, however, is nervously shaking at the mere sight of the door.

"Gogo. chill."

"I'm chill," Gogo rolls her eyes. The sound of footsteps make their head snap to the door, and Steve opens the door with a smirk.

"Hello, ladies."

* * *

Callaghan lied in his bed, completely restless. He couldn't seem to get his mind off of the lab. How strange it was that it lead there of all places, how an unidentified piece of fabric was in it, spotted with blood. It just didn't make sense. Cass and Tadashi didn't even know about it yet and that fact alone tore him up a little bit inside. Sighing, he got out of bed, threw on a flannel, and went to the porch to get some fresh air. His thoughts raced endlessly. The last serious missing persons case was in the summer of '61, and the last horrible suicide like Benny's was in '81.

...What was happening?

* * *

The three young boys discuss privately outside of Eleven's fort. What were they going to do now? They learned the hard way that forcing an answer as to how she knew Hiro was a bad idea, so what now?

Eleven ignored their discussion, slowly walking towards their game table and sitting down in a seat. The boys notice this amd walk towards her in confusion. She places her hands flat on the board game and closes her eyes, as if she was in deep prayer.

"El?" Michael asks cautiously. She doesn't respond. Her eyes snap open suddenly and she immediately looks down at the board, grabbing a figurine and examing it. It was a wizard, holding a staff and frowning.

"Hiro."

"Superpowers," Fred whispers in awe. Michael ignores him and quickly takes a seat next to her.

"Did you see him? On Mirkwood? Do you know where he is?"

She glances at him with dark eyes before sliding her arm across the board, knocking all of the figurines on the ground. She turns the board upside down, staring at the shiny black material in concentration.

She places the wizard figurine on the dark side.

"I-I don't understand," Michael shakes his head at her.

"Hiding," she whispers.

"Hiro is hiding?"

She nods, not taking her eyes off of the board.

"F-from the bad men?"

She shakes her head.

"Then from who?"

She places the Demogorgon figurine right next to the wizard, making all three boys look at each other in fear.

* * *

Tadashi drives down Mirkwood, pulling over next to the barricades blocking entrance from where his baby brother was last seen. He opens his trunk and takes out a camera, shutting it and walking to the forest. He slowly walks towards a tall tree, taking a picture of the bottom of it.

"Where are you?" he whispers. He stands up and continues.

He takes another photo, this time of an old tire leaning up against a tree. And another, of some twigs.

Before he can take another, a loud screaming echoes through out the woods, making Tadashi's head snap up in fear.

He sprints towards the voice, breathing heavily though the cold. The screaming continues.

 _Hiro, Hiro, Hiro._

When he reaches the source, he sees Tommy H. from school holding Carol bridal style, threatening to throw her in the pool.

"One..."

"No!"

"Two..."

"Stop! Tommy, don't!" she laughs. Tadashi sighs to himself. He thought he found him but he only found something ten times worse.

Steve laughs from across the pool, opening a beer can from the bottom and quickly drinking it before anymore can leak.

Gogo rolls her eyes.

"Is that supposed to impress me?" Honey Lemon scoffs.

"You're not?"

"You're a cliche, you know that?"

" _You_ are a cliche what with...your grades, and your band practice..."

"I'm not in band," Honey laughs.

"Okay, party girl. Why don't you just, uh, show us how it's done, then?" he smirks, handing her a pocket knife.

"Okay," she agrees, grabbing a can and trying to saw through it.

"You gotta make a little hole right in-"

"I got it," she says with a giggle.

"Yeah, she's smart, you douche!" Tommy laughs, crushing a can on his head. Honey finally opens it, drinking from the bottom.

"Chug, chug, chug!" they chant repeatedly, and after only six seconds, the empty can falls to the ground. Gogo looks away, unamused, as the teens all laugh and cheer.

"Gogo, you wanna try?" Honey asks, handing her a can.

"What? No."

"C'mon-"

"No, I don't want to, thanks."

"Come on, yeah," Steve encourages her.

"It's fun! Just give it a-"

"Honey..."

"Just...just give it a shot."

"Okay," Gogo sighs, taking the can and the knife and sawing into it.

The knife slides, sawing into her palm. She drops the can and the knife and breathes heavily.

"Gnarly," Carol says.

"Are you okay?" Honey Lemon immediately tries to help her.

"Yeah," she says, backing away.

"Gogo, you're bleeding."

"I'm fine. Where's your bathroom?" Gogo asks with a shaky voice. Steve clears his throat.

"Oh, it's uh...it's down past the kitchen, to the left."

"Okay, thanks."

Tadashi snaps a picture of the scene from the bushes.

Carol stand by the pool and sighs, looking up at the sky. Tommy smiles and pushes her in. She screams again, splashing around in anger but still managing to laugh.

"Oh my god, Tommy! What the hell?!"

He shrugs, jumping in after her. They both splash and tackle each other underwater. Honey Lemon watches them in amusement, while Steve rushes up behind her and pushes her in.

"Steve-!"

"Whoo!" he cheers, running along the sidewalk and crashing into the water.

Tadashi continues to watch closely, snapping picture after picture.

* * *

Cass sat in her recliner, fast asleep next to the telephone. After the manager gave her the phone for free, she returned home and waited for another call from Hiro. After six hourse of waiting, she fell into a deep sleep, waiting for something, anything. Anything at all. Any-

 _Rin_ _g!_

Before it could even ring twice, Cass jolted forward and answered the call.

"Hello?" she asked frantically. Muffled breathing came from the other end. Cass's eyes widened. "Hello? Who is this?"

A familiar cry of fear came from the other end. Cass immediately broke into a sob.

"Hiro?" she asked with a shaky voice, begging for a response. "Hiro, its me. Talk to me. I'm here. J-just tell me where you are, honey. I can hear you. Please!"

"Aunt Cass?"

Cass gasped and shook violently, nodding as tears fell endlessly from her face.

"Hiro! Yes it's me! It's me! Where are you?! Where are you, just talk to me-"

A burst of electricity made her drop the phone with a yelp, looking down to see both ends of the device burned. Cass dropped to her knees, grapping the phone with pale, shaky hands.

"Oh, no, no! No!" she yelled, throwing the phone across the room and falling to her hands and knees, grabbing her head and banging the ground like a toddler.

"NO, NO, NO!"

She curled up on the ground, looking around to see if anything else got burned. The lights began to flicker, making her head whip towards it in fear.

"Tadashi?" she called, shrinking in fear as the lights flickered more and more. "W-what-"

She screamed loudly as "Should I Stay or Should I Go" blared on the radio from Tadashi's room. Lights flashed brightly from the room, making Cass sob quieter and quieter as she paled in fear. Finally, after standing there staring for what felt like an eternity, she tore the door open, taking in the room.

Hiro's side looked the same, and so did Tadashi's. Hiro's radio was the source of the loud sound, and she looked at it with confusion.

"Hiro?" she whispered, slwoly walking towards it.

The lamp on the night stand began to flicker brightly, causing Cass to change direction and gently touch the lamp.

"Hiro...Hiro, is that you?"

At the question, the lamp got brighter and brighter until all of the power in the house went out. She began to cry again, rubbing the lamp in frustration.

"No..."

And as if things couldn't get stranger...

The wall in front of her began to stretch out, as if someone was trapped inside it, reaching and clawing to get out. Cass screamed loudly and ran out of the cafe and across the street to her truck.

"Oh, my god, oh, my god!" she cried, opening the door and sealing herself inside. She frantically put the keys in the ignition, but before she could drive away, Hiro's window began shining brightly and music began blaring again. She paused, looking up at the window in complete horror.

"Hiro..." she whispered, laying her head on the wheel as she took the keys out of the ignition and placing them in the cupholder. She looked up at the window and, with a burst of energy, she marched back inside of the house.

* * *

"I'm freezing," Carol complains.

"Hmm, well, I hear his mom's room's got a fireplace."

"Are you kidding?" Steve raises his arms in annoyance.

"Oh, yeah?" Carol asks, very fond of the idea.

"Okay, well, you know, you're cleaning the sheets," Steve laughs, walking over to Honey. "You all right?"

"Yeah," she nods.

"Yeah? C'mon, let's go get you come dry clothes."

Honey Lemon sniffles, wrapping her towel around her frame and following him up the stairs.

"Honey Lemon! Honey." Gogo calls her name before she can get halfway up the steps, making Honey turn and hum in confusion.

"Where are you going?"

"Nowhere," Honey replies, drying her hair, "Just...upstairs. To change. I...fell in the pool," she laughs. Gogo just stares in confusion.

"Why don't you go ahead and go home?" Honey suggests, "I'll just-I'll get a ride or something."

"Honey..."

"Gogo...I'm fine."

"This isn't you," Gogo shakes her head, looking down at her feet.

"I'm fine," Honey repeats sternly, "Just...go ahead and go home, okay?" she says with a nod, rushing up the stairs.

Gogo scoffs, turning to the back door.

Honey Lemon looks out Steve's window nervously as he looks for some clothes for her.

Tadashi snaps a picture of her in his room from the woods.

Steve comes up from behind her, handing her the bundle of clothes.

"Thanks," she smiles, looking up to meet his eyes. He stares into hers as if they're some perfect dream. Honey looks down. "Um...some privacy, maybe?"

"Oh, yeah. Right. Sorry," he chuckles turning the other way. She hesitates, before...

"Steve?"

"Hum?"

She looks at him with her deep green eyes and slowly lifts up her shirt, tossing it on the ground and looking at him for a response.

"Damn."

"Shut up," she chuckles as he walks up to her, gently grabbing her head and leaning to kiss. She kisses him back.

Tadashi lowers his camera, swallowing hard. He shouldn't of come here. He should've turned away when he had the chance. He sighs, glancing at the pool. Gogo is sitting on the diving board, kicking her feet in the water. Tadashi hardly knew Gogo, but he knew that Honey and Gogo had a very tight bond that seemed to be breaking.

Tadashi tried to take another picture, but his camera busted, telling him he had no storage left. He nods to himself, turning back to the woods to go home.

Gogo looks at her reflection in the water. No way was she leaving Honey alone with that creep. She swirls the water with her feet. It's so damn cold but it hardly seems to matter to her. She glances at her wrapped hand and winces. A single drop of her blood falls into the pool and the pool lights immediately flicker off.

A shadow rises from behind her and before she can turn around to see what's causing it, she screams and vanishes from sight.


	3. Holly, Jolly

**Authors Note:**

 **So this chapter I'm gonna try to focus around each character's lives in San Fran more. Instead of just making it exactly like the show.**

 **Enjoy.**

* * *

Gogo woke up with a gasp, coughing and choking violently. She widened her eyes as she sat up and looked at her surroundings.

She was in the bottom of Steve Harrington's empty pool. But it was almost like she was in another version of it. She stood up in fear, noticing to strange vine-like substance growing in the pool.

"Hello? Honey Lemon?" Her voice seemed to echo every which way, as if she was completely alone in this...this dimension. She tried again, "Honey Lemon! Hello!"

When she turned the other way, her scream bounced off of every wall. Standing in front of her was a tall, bony creature, with slimy pale skin and black demonic eyes. It growled at her and charged as she ran for the ladder leading to the top of the pool.

...

Honey Lemon hadn't left Steve's room yet and continued to kiss, completely unaware of what their friend was experiencing.

...

"Oh, my god! Honey! Help me!"

...

"Hey, what's the matter?" Steve asked, noticing Honey Lemon whip her head towards the window. She looks back at him and shakes her head.

"Nothing."

...

Gogo groaned as she struggled to climb the ladder. She finally reached the top, grabbing the bars tp pull herself up. She lay on the concrete to catch her breath.

But she forgot to pull her foot up after.

...

"I love you," Honey Lemon whispers. Steve smirks at her and leans in for another kiss.

...

"Honey-!" Gogo gasps as she's yanked back down, grabbing the bars just in time to catch her fall.

...

"You're so beautiful."

...

"HONEY LEMON!"

 **CHAPTER THREE**

 **HOLLY JOLLY**

"Steve? Hey, Steve?"

Steve mumbles in his sleep as Honey Lemon throws on a sweatshirt.

"I'll, uh...see you tomorrow, okay?"

"Mm-hm."

She sighs, looking down at her feet before proceeding downstairs where she opens the back door to the pool. She looks at the pool suspiciously as she notices a single purple hair laying on the diving board.

Who else would it belong to other than her best friend?

She shrugs, going out the back gate and walking home.

After thirty minutes of walking, she finally approaches her back door and quietly opens it. She turns to the staircase to shower, but is stopped by her mother on the way.

"Oh, Jesus. You scared me."

"Oh, I scared you?" she snarls, raising her arms in annoyance.

"I know, I should have called-"

"Where have you been? We agreed on 10:00."

"After the assembly, some people wanted to go get something to eat. I didn't think it would be a big deal."

"You didn't think to call and let me know? With everything that's been going on? This is San Fransokyo, Honey. And you're about to graduate. You think I want you wandering around the streets in a city like this? You're 17! And it's 2016! You could get taken or-"

"I didn't realize how late it was, okay? I'm sorry mom, what more do you want?" she shakes her head, turning her heel to rush up the stairs.

"Hey, wait," Karen stops her, glancing at her attire with a raised eyebrow, "Who's sweatshirt is that?"

"Steve's," Honey Lemon says in a whisper.

"Steve's" Karen nods, looking at the ground, "So is Steve your boyfriend now?"

"What? No! It was just cold, so I borrowed his sweatshirt. It's not a big deal," she says, turning to the stairs.

"Honey?"

"What?" she turns back in frustration.

"You can talk to me. Whatever happened-"

"Nothing. Happened."

"Honey."

"Nothing happened. Can I please go?" she says finally. Karen closes her eyes and sighs in defeat.

* * *

"Hiro? Hiro? Sweetheart, can you hear me?" Cass's voice comes softly from Hiro's side of the room. Tadashi stirs in his sleep, squinting as sunlight pours from his window and onto his bed. He hears what she's saying and sits up in alarm.

"Hiro...Please...It's me."

Tadashi gasps, grabbing a shirt and throwing the room divider open.

Cass is sitting in the center of the room, lamps surrounding her in a circle. She whispers something to herself as she rocks back and forth. Tadashi stares in confusion.

"Aunt Cass?" she whips her head towards his voice and gasps.

"Tadashi! Come here, come here!"

"Aunt Cass, what is this?"

"Come here, come here."

"What is going on?"

"It's Hiro, it's Hiro, he's...he's trying to talk to me."

...

"He's trying to talk to you?"

"Yes, through...through the lights."

"Aunt Cass-"

"I know. I know. Just watch," she says, closing her eyes and trembling as she takes a deep breath. "Hiro? Your brother's here. Can you show him what you showed me, baby? Please-"

One of the lamps flickered, making Cass open her eyes and gasp.

"Did you see that?!"

"It's the electricity, Aunt Cass! It's acting up!"

"No-"

"It's the same thing that fried the phone!"

"No! It in NOT the electricity, Tadashi! Something is going on here! Yesterday, the wall-"

"What? What about the wall? Cass, first the lights, then the wall?!"

"I just know that Hiro is here."

"No, Aunt Cass," Tadashi looks down as a tear trails down his cheek.

"Maybe if I get more lamps-"

"No, Cass, you don't need more lamps, okay?! You need to stop this!" his voice cracks as he shouts and his face turns red as he cries, making Cass flinch in terror. Tadashi sighs, closing his eyes and lifting his head up. "He's just lost. People are looking for him, and they're going to find him."

"O-okay," Cass stammers with a nod, "Okay, okay, I'm sorry."

"Can you do me a favor, Cass? Can you just try and get some sleep? Can you do that for me?"

"Yeah. I promise I will. I just need to sit here for a second."

"All right, I'll go make breakfast," Tadashi says in a lighter tone as he rubs her back.

"Okay," Cass smiles at him gratefully.

And with that, Tadashi stands up and goes to the kitchen, leaving Cass alone with the lamps.

With Hiro.

* * *

"We just tell our parents we're going to hang out at the SFIT campus after school. That'll give us at least a few hours for Operation Mirkwood."

Wasabi nods, glancing behind Michael. Eleven is sitting on the couch, pressing buttons on a radio. He lowers his head. Wasabi didn't know a lot about Hiro, but he knew enough. He was gifted beyond doubt and he loved his family more than anything, and Wasabi would do whatever it took to get Hiro back home safely. He looks up at Michael and sighs.

"Do you really think the weirdo knows where Hiro is?"

"Just trust me on this, okay?" Michael pleads. Wasabi sighs again. "Did you get the supplies?"

"Yeah," Wasabi grabs his backpack and begins taking stuff out, "Binoculars, from 'Nam...Army knife, also from 'Nam...Hammer, camouflage bandana...and...the wrist rocket!" he pulls out his slingshot and smiles in triumph.

"You're gonna take out the Demogorgon with a slingshot?" Fred asks, unamused.

"First of all, it's a wrist rocket. And second of all, the Demogorgon is not real. It's made up. But if there is something out there...I'm gonna shoot it in the eye and blind it."

Michael sighs, turning his head to Fred.

"Fred, what did you get?"

Fred grabs his backpack and dumps it's contents on the table.

"Alrighty, so I've got...Nutty Bars, Bazooka, Pez, Smarties, Pringles, Nilla Wafers, apple, banana, and trail mix."

"Seriously?"

"We need energy for our travels! For stamina. And besides, why do we even need weapons anyway? We have her!" he argues, gesturing to the clueless young girl.

"She shut one door!"

"With her mind! Are you kidding me? That's insane! Imagine all the other cool stuff she could do. Like..." his eyes widen as he rushes over to grab Michael's Millenium Falcon toy, "I bet...that she could make this fly! Hey, hey. Concentrate, okay?" he lets go of the toy, hoping for it to stay in the air...

Only for it to crash to the ground.

"Okay, one more time. Use your powers, okay?" he lets go again, and it crashes to the floor.

"Idiot," Wasabi shakes his head.

"She's not a dog," Michael scolds, rushing to grab the toy and put it back where Fred took it.

"Boys!" Karen calls from the kitchen, "Time for school!"

Wasabi and Fred grab their bags quickly. Michael turns to Eleven and kneels down by her side.

"Stay down here. Don't make any noise, and don't leave. If you get hungry, eat Dustin's snacks, okay?"

"Michael!"

"Coming!" he sighs, turning back to Eleven, "You know those power lines?"

"Power lines?"

"Yeah. The ones behind my house?"

"Yes."

"Meet us there. After school."

"After school?"

"Yeah, 3:15."

She shakes her head in confusion.

"Ah," Michael chuckles, looking down at his wrist and taking off his watch. He gestures toward her wrist and she moves her arm forward, allowing Michael to snap it on. "When the numbers read three-one-five, meet us there."

"Three-one-five."

"Three-one five," Michael nods.

She smiles at him one more time before he rushes up the steps and slams the door.

* * *

Honey Lemon walks down the high school hallways slowly, searching the crowd of students for her friend Gogo. The students seem to stare at her and snicker, but she ignores them. Right now, she just needs her friend. She walks to her locker and opens it, placing her textbooks in their proper slots.

"Hey!" Steve comes up from behind her and leans on another locker. She gasps but eventually smiles.

"Hey!" she says nervously. Steve notices her behavior and frowns.

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah!" she assures him, "Yeah, totally. I just...I feel like everyone's staring at me."

"Oh, I didn't...I didn't tell anyone-"

"I know! I know, of course not. But what about like, Tommy and Carol and them?"

"You're being paranoid," Steve shakes his head and rubs her shoulder.

"I'm sorry."

"No, no, it's cute."

Honey Lemon blushes and looks down at her shoes.

"Hey...I had a good time."

"Yeah, me too."

He leans in to kiss her softly and she kisses him back. It was short, but it was enough to make Honey break out into a smile. He walks away and she grabs her books for English.

She walks into the classroom to take her seat, looking beside her to see her best friend's seat was empty. She frowns, leaning forward to the girl in front of her.

"Hey, Ally?"

"Hum?"

"Where's Gogo?"

"Um, shouldn't you know?"

"You haven't seen her anywhere at all?"

Ally shakes her head, turning back to the teacher.

* * *

"There she is," an officer says with a shiver, "The San Fransokyo Laboratory." he looks around nervously as they pull up to the front gate.

"I heard they make space weapons in there," another officer comments from the back seat.

"Space weapons?"

"Yeah. You know, like, Star Wars kind of stuff."

Callaghan sighs, pulling up to a tollbooth as a security guard steps out.

"Can I help you?"

"Uh, yeah," Callaghan says, "we're here for a tour."

"Oh, we don't give tours."

"Okay...a quick look around?"

"You have to get clearance for that. You can contact, uh...Rick Schaeffer at the Department of Energy."

"Maybe you've seen it on TV. We got a local kid that's missing. We have reason to believe he might have snuck in here."

"Like I said, you have to speak to Mr. Schaeffer."

"What's your name?"

"Patrick."

"Patrick, I got a panicked mayor, and I got reporters breathing down my neck and I got a very upset mother and brother. Now, I know the kid's not in there, but I gotta check off this box. Patrick, would you do me a favor? Would you speak to your boss and see what he can swing for us? I'd really appreciate it. I'm talking ten minutes, tops."

Patrick sighs and looks down, but gives the sheriff a nod as he turns back to the tollbooth.

* * *

Eleven sits on the floor with her legs crossed, staring up at the ceiling at the flying Millennium Falcon toy. She sighs, looking the other direction and letting it clatter to the ground. She gets up, walking to the staircase and running up to the first floor, even though she was very clearly instructed not to do so.

Besides, what would Michael do about it?

She wandered into the living room, breaking into a grin as a familiar piece of furniture came into view.

Mr. Wheeler's La-Z-Boy.

She sits down and pulls the lever on the side, flying backward with a giggle. She glances to the side where a modern looking house phone sits on a side table. She picks it up with curiosity, bringing it to her ear. A dial tone plays on repeat and Eleven mimics it in confusion before setting it down and standing up, walking over to the large flat screen TV across the room.

She picks up the remote from the table, examining it closely. She presses the green button on the top.

"Although many are still recovering from the Orlando tragedy-"

 _Click._

"In theaters January 27th-"

 _Click._

"I have the power-!"

 _Click._

"Coca-cola, bringing families and friends together since 1886."

Eleven gasps at the advertisement, recognizing the red canned beverage. She tries to prevent the bad memories from flooding in, but it's no use.

 _Eleven lowers her head at the single Coca-Cola can on the metal table in front of her. She's hooked up to a bundle of wires and her Papa is looking at her from the other side of the large window across from her. She glances at him cautiously before returning her focus to the can._

 _Her head begins to shake as she strains to get the can to budge, until finally, after five minutes of trying, the can crumbles into a small wad of red and silver. She looks up at her Papa, who's smiling brightly at her with approval. She gasps as she feels a warm liquid dripping from her nose, lifting her finger and looking in alarm at the red smudge on it. She looks up at her Papa, breathing heavily in fear._

 _His smile doesn't fade._

Eleven gasps, quickly scrambling for the remote she had dropped and pressing the green button on the top.

The screen fades to black and she looks at her reflection in shame.

* * *

Cass drags a torn cardboard box marked "X-Mas" out of a hallway closet and into the living, throwing it open and digging through it's contents. She smiles in triumph when she finds a wad of Christmas lights in the bottom, untangling them and running to grab a hammer and a package of nails.

She quickly grabs a chair, pulling it up next to the wall and hammering into the rose green wallpaper.

Cass knew Tadashi told her not to do this to herself, but as far as she knew, she wasn't hurting anybody. She was trying to find what she had lost.

Ever since her sister and brother-in-law died in that horrible car crash when Hiro was only one, she had made a promise to them that she had worked hard to keep.

She would never let the boys out of her sight. She wouldn't let anything bad happen to them. She wouldn't give up on her cafe and she would tirelessly provide for them. She would make sure they got a proper education. She would make sure they grew up to be kind, loving people. She would treat them like they were her own sons.

But, most importantly, she would make sure they survived in time for graduation.

So there she was in the living room, which she had to make sure was a living room for three, banging into the walls hopefully, with a large coat on and a bundle of tangled hair, hammering to her heart's content.

She was pulled out of her thoughts when she realized that the lights weren't gonna reach the plug, so without a second thought, she ran across the street to her truck and drove off to the grocery store, buying twenty-three boxes of lights.

The cashier looked at her with a tilted head.

"Cass-"

"Just ring me up, Donald."

* * *

"And you think this missing boy may have crawled through here?"

"Well, that was the idea."

"Yeah, I just don't see how that would be possible. We've got over 100 cameras. Every square inch covered, plus all my guys. No one breaks in here. Certainly not some kid."

Callaghan stands up from the drainpipe, shutting off his flashlights and glancing up at the security cameras.

"Those cameras, you keep the tapes?"

The man sighs, leading the three officers into the facility. Callaghan glances at the several security guards and lab workers rushing by and clears his throat in curiosity.

"If you don't mind me asking, what do you guys do in here?"

"You're asking the wrong guy," the man chuckles.

"Who's in charge here?"

"That'd be Dr. Krei. CEO of Krei Tech Industries."

"And this is where you build the space lasers?" officer Finley asks from behind.

"Space lasers?"

"Ignore him," Callaghan says as they're lead into the security office. The man instructs them to play back their footage and the screen bursts to life.

"This is the night of the 6th and 7th we're seeing here?"

"That's correct."

The screen shows the drainpipe before glitching to static and stopping completely. Callaghan scoffs.

"What, that's it?"

"Like I said, we would have seen him."

Callaghan nods, thanking then men before leaving the facility and rushing to the parking lot, Finley and Powell following closely behind.

"The night of the 7th, we had a search party out for Hiro. You two remember anything about that night?"

"Not much to remember," Finley shrugs, "Called it off."

"'Cause of the storm," Powell adds.

"Yeah, a lot of rain that night. Did you see any rain on that tape?"

"What are you thinking?"

"I don't know. But they're lying."

* * *

After wandering around the rest of the downstairs, Eleven decided to continue her wandering upstairs. She noticed one of the doors near the top of the staircase was cracked, and suddenly very curious, she pushed it open gently.

It was Honey's room.

The room was painted pink, a blue polka-dotted bed in the center of the room. The carpet was a light beige, soft and warm under her feet as she proceeded to the vanity across the room. A little flower-covered box rested on it's edge, and Eleven frowned as she lifted her hand up to open the lid.

A little ballerina figurine twirled in circles on a spring as a soft lullaby played. Eleven's lower lip began to tremble and she shut it quickly.

She sighs, walking over to a large board on the wall that was scattered with pictures.

One of a small blonde girl dancing in a ballet recital.

Another of the same blonde several years later taking photos with a short black haired girl.

Several of the two girls going to football games and riding their bikes together.

Eleven bit her lower lip as a single tear slowly trailed down her cheek.

* * *

"That's why science doesn't make any damn sense to me."

"You don't make any damn sense!"

Honey Lemon rolled her eyes as she went to sit with Steve and his two idiotic friends. She gave them a small smile as she set her bag down along with her food tray. She glances over at Tommy and clears her throat.

"Hey, Tommy. When you left last night, did you see Gogo?"

"What?"

"Gogo. She's not here today."

"I seriously have no idea who you're talking about."

"Come on, don't be an ass, man. Did you see her leave last night or not?"

"No, she was gone when we left."

"Probably couldn't stand listening to all that moaning."

Steve sighs and rolls his eyes, turning back to Honey Lemon to rub her arm.

"Listen...I'm sure she's fine. She's probably just, like, skipping or something."

"Yeah. Yeah, probably."

Honey Lemon looks down at her lap. Gogo doesn't skip school. And she's most certainly never late. Gogo Tomago was always fast and focused, never letting her guard down. Honey had known the adrenaline junkie ever since the fourth grade. They had met while their parents were at a tour for SFIT and the two were immediately close. Honey shivered at the thought of something horrible happening to her friend and would do whatever it took to make sure she was okay.

But she couldn't fight the horrible feeling she had deep down inside.

What if this was all her fault?

She sat up straight and bit into her apple, looking over at the lunch door to see if she could spot her coming in.

Tadashi walked by and felt her stare, looking into her eyes and stopping dead in his tracks.

He looked down in guilt and continued on to his lunch table.

* * *

"How about this one?"

"Nah. Too big for the sling."

Michael nods, kneeling back down to the ground to search for the rock that would slay the non-existent Demogorgon. Fred chuckled to himself and then cleared his throat to speak.

"So, do you think Eleven was born with her powers, like the X-Men, or do you think she acquired them, like the Green Lantern?"

"She's not a superhero. She's a weirdo."

"Why does that matter? The X-Men are weirdos."

"If you love her so much, why don't you marry her?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Mike, seriously. You look at her all like...Hi! El! El! El! El! I love you so much! Would you marry me?"

"Shut up, Wasabi."

"Yeah, shut up, Wasabi," a familiar voice said from behind.

"Losers," another said. The boys groaned.

Their tormentors.

"What are you losers doing back here?"

"Probably looking for their missing friend."

"That's not funny," Fred barks, "It's serious. He's in real danger."

"I hate to break it to you, fanboy, but he's not in danger. He's dead. He was probably killed by some other queer."

Fred's face turns red in anger, as does Wasabi's. Michael only rolls his eyes, turning to the two and taking a deep breath.

"Come on. Just ignore them," he says, walking in between the two bullies.

Only to be pushed and knocked to the ground, banging his chin in the process. The two boys laugh.

"Watch where you're going, Frogface," they snicker and walk away from the scene. Wasabi and Fred rush to help him up.

"You all right?"

"Yeah," Michael says, wincing at the blood dripping from his chin. Fred drops his head at this in anger, noticing a certain stone on the ground and picking it up with a soft laugh.

"Hey, how about this one?"

Michael and Wasabi laugh, nodding in approval.

"Yeah, that's the one."

"Oh yeah," Wasabi grins, "this is the monster killer!"

* * *

Cass huffs in triumph, standing up and looking around the second floor of the house.

The living room and kitchen are covered completely in lights, running all the way up to the staircase that lead to Hiro and Tadashi's room. She dusted her hands off and looked at her watch, snapping her head up at the sound of the doorbell. She rushes to open it, smiling brightly as Karen stands on the front porch, holding a casserole in one hand and holding Holly's hand in the other. Karen tilted her head at Cass, taking in her current attire.

She was wearing a large coat with torn dirt-smudged jeans and old sneakers. Her hair was tangled up in a large mop and she had scratches all over her face. Karen's curiosity only grew when she glanced behind the frantic woman, noticing the lights strung all around the house. She still looks back and smiles at her.

"Hey!" she grins. Cass grins back.

"Hey, Karen!"

"I brought you a casserole."

"Oh! Thank you. Uh...you wanna come in?"

* * *

"Newspapers? You guys got newspapers around here?"

The librarian nods kindly, leading the two officers to a long line of filing cabinets.

"We got the _New York Times,_ the _Post,_ all the big ones," she grins, "organized by year and topic. You can find the corresponding microfiche in the reading room."

"Okay, well, we're looking for anything on the San Fransokyo National Laboratory."

"Shouldn't you be looking for that missing kid?"

"Yeah. We are."

She nods in understanding, returning to her desk to help other customers.

"Uh, so, why don't you start with the _Times,_ and I'll check out the _Post."_

* * *

"Hiro always loved Christmas, you know. So I thought if I...I put the lights up...I don't know, he...I'd feel like he was home somehow. It's silly I know."

"No! No, it's not silly," Karen assures her with a soft smile, reaching forward to hold her hand. "How is Tadashi holding up?"

"He's good at taking care of himself...especially after that horrible car accident so many years ago with his parents. He thought he was on his own, so he grew up right then and there. I always tell him that's what I'm for...but, he thinks I'm losing my mind, so I-"

Cass stops mid-sentence, whipping her head up when she sees a light flicker from across the room. Karen notices this and turns back in confusion at what she's looking at.

"Is something the matter?"

"Oh, no. No, we're just having some electrical problems. That's all it is."

"Cass. I want you to know something," Karen says, holding Cass's hand a little bit tighter.

 _Flick! Flick! Flick!_

Holly gasps, looking to the side and jumping off her chair as the Christmas lights make a trail to the staircase. She goes to the first stair and crawls up the rest as they continue to flicker.

"If you need anything, anything at all..."

 _Flick! Flick! Flick!_

"Ted and I are here for you."

 _Flick! Flick! Flick!_

"Thank you so much. How is Mike dealing with all of this? Is he doing okay?"

Holly makes it to the final step, turning the corner to Hiro and Tadashi's room.

"Mike? I don't know...He skipped school yesterday. He's never done anything like that before."

Holly gasps as a circle of lamps on the ground begin to flicker brightly, making her giggle as she jumps in the middle of the circle and spins with the lights as they get brighter and brighter.

"That is odd...I hope he knows he can talk to you."

Brighter and brighter...

"You and me both."

Brighter and brighter...

"Hey, where's Holly?"

 _Pop!_

All of the lamps and Christmas lights go out, making Holly jump in fear. She looks around the room to see why the lights went out when she hears a low growling from the wall behind her.

Her breathing begins to pick up as a hand reaches out from the wall, nearly grabbing her...

"Hey!" Cass cries, grabbing Holly from behind and handing her over to Karen. "She shouldn't be here."

"Oh, sorry. She's quite the explorer these days."

Cass takes in the three-year-old's terror written expression and glances at the wall, then back to her.

"Wait...did you see something?"

"Yeah," Holly says in a whimper.

"What did you see? Tell me!"

"Cass!"

"Listen, Karen, thank you for the casserole, but I need you to leave."

Karen scoffs, holding Holly tightly and walking back downstairs.

* * *

" _Hello?_ "

"Hi! Ms. Tomago, it's Honey Lemon."

" _Oh, Honey, how are you?_ "

"I'm good. I was just wondering, uh...is Gogo there?"

" _Mmm, no, she hasn't come home yet._ "

"But she did come home, right? After the assembly?"

" _No, she said she was staying with you last night._ "

"Right, yes. She did, sorry. I meant, did she come home this morning? I think she left some textbooks and she was gonna go pick them up."

" _Oh, um, no, I haven't seen her._ "

"Do-do you know what? I just remembered...she's at the library."

" _...Honey, will you please have her call me as soon as you find her?_ "

"Yeah. Yeah, I will. Sorry to bother you."

Honey hung up her phone and shoved it in her bag, glancing around the crowd of students in concern.

* * *

Tadashi tiredly trudged up the hill that lead to the parking lot, pulling out the keys to his moped with a yawn. The teenager hadn't slept in days, and with all of the homework he had to catch up on and the fact that the only family he had left was either missing or crazy, he didn't think he would be sleeping anytime soon.

He mentally screamed when he saw Steve, Tommy, Carol, and...Nicole from his photography class...leaning against his bike. Steve shot up right when Tadashi came into view.

"Hey, man."

"What's going on?"

"Nicole here was, uh, telling us about your work."

"We've heard great things."

"Yeah, sounds cool."

"And we'd just love to take a look, you know, as...connoisseurs of art."

"I don't know what you're talking about-"

"Come on, Tadashi," Nicole spoke up, "I saw the photos in your bag during photography class today."

Steve sighs, grabbing Tadashi and ripping his bag from his hands. Tadashi gasps, whirling around with dread as Steve pulled out a stack of photos.

"Ah, here we go."

...

"Oh, man."

"Let me see!" Tommy snickers, taking two or three pictures from the stack.

"Dude."

"Yeah, this isn't creepy at all."

"I was looking for my baby brother-"

"No, this is called stalking."

"...What's going on?" Honey Lemon asks as she approaches the group.

"Ah, the starring lady."

"What?"

"This creep was spying on us last night."

Honey Lemon looks over at Tadashi with disbelief.

"He was probably gonna save this one for later," Carol smirks, handing Honey a certain photo from the stack. Honey snatches it and looks at it with wide eyes.

It was Honey Lemon, in Steve's room, shirtless.

"See, you can tell he knows it's wrong, but that's the thing about perverts," Steve sighs, "It's hardwired into them, you know, they just can't help themselves."

Steve tears up the photos, throwing them in Tadashi's face.

"So...we'll just have to take away his toy."

"Steve..."

"No, please, not the camera..."

"Alright, alright. Here you go, man," Steve says, holding the device out towards Tadashi. Tadashi reaches out for it...

Only for Steve to drop it to the ground with a loud smash. Steve begins to walk away

Steve begins to walk away, gesturing for the others to follow.

"Come on, the game's about to start."

Honey Lemon stays behind, looking on in pity as Tadashi scrambles to get the shattered pieces of his camera to fit back together. She looks down at the torn photos and gasps when she sees one of Gogo sitting on the diving board with her feet in the water.

"Hey, Honey, come on!"

Honey Lemon reaches down to grab it before rushing off to catch up with her friends.

* * *

Eleven paced back and forth nervously, glancing at her watch every other second. The cold bit at her harshly and she pulled down her sleeves to keep herself warm until her friends arrived.

"Three-one-five, three-one-five, three-"

She stopped mid-sentence as a cat approached the girl from the other side of a fence, moaning loudly. Eleven gasped, looking back at the cat with fear as tears began to prick in the corners of her eyes.

 _Hiss_

 _The cat in front of Eleven moaned and growled in it's cage, clawing at it to escape. Eleven looked at it with fear, looking over at her Papa as he encouraged her to do what she did best._

 _To the cat._

 _It was all too much, and after trying for ten minutes, she threw the bundle of wires off of her head and looked at her Papa angrily, shaking her head 'no' at him._

 _Her Papa nodded in disappointment as two men came in the room and dragged her down the hallway._

 _"Papa! Papa! No!"_

 _They threw her in the small, dark room, but before they could close the door, she stood up and glared at the door._

 _The door flew open, causing one of the men to go flying into the wall and cracking it in the process. She looked over at the other, simply nodding her head to the side, making his head snap back and knocking his knees out._

 _She leaned on the wall and breathed heavily as blood dripped from her ears and nostrils._

 _Krei came into view, stepping over the bodies and looking at Eleven in disbelief. She looked at him with fear as he slowly lifted his large hands to cup her face. She began to sob at his action as he searched her eyes in awe._

 _"Incredible."_

 _He bent down and picked her up gently, taking her out of the room and down the long, dim hallway._

"...L! El?"

She shook her head, snapping out of her thoughts as the three boys approached her.

"You okay?"

Eleven nods. Michael nods back, turning his bicycle around and patting his seat.

"Hop on, we only have a few hours."

* * *

"So, I told Mr. Mundy...'The solution of ten plus Y equals...blow me."

"Bull, if you did that, you'd be in detention right now."

"Saturday."

Honey Lemon rolls her eyes at Tommy and Carol's pointless banter, looking down the hallway to see if Gogo was there.

Without a second thought, she gets up and walks away.

"Whoa, Honey, where're you going?"

"I totally forgot. I told my mom that I would, uh...I would do something with her."

"Well, what do you mean? The game's about to start!"

"Sorry."

"What the hell's wrong with her?"

"Maybe she freaked out when you went all psycho on the psycho."

"Oh, give me a break."

* * *

"Why did they hurt you?"

"What?"

Eleven points to Michael's chin and he chuckles lightly in understanding.

"Oh, that. I just fell during recess."

"Mike..."

"Yeah?"

"Friends tell the truth."

"I...I was tripped by this mouth breather Troy, all right?"

"Mouth breather?"

"Yeah, you know...a dumb person. A knucklehead."

"Knucklehead?"

"I don't know why I just didn't tell you. Everyone at school knows. I just didn't want you to think I was such a coward, you know?"

"Mike."

"Yeah?"

"I understand."

"Oh, okay. Cool."

They both look at eachother and blush before returning to their trail to search for Hiro.

* * *

Honey Lemon drove up to where Gogo had parked for the party last night. She gets out of her car with dread, realizing that Gogo's car hadn't moved since that night. She looks in the windows, but sees no sign of her.

"Gogo!" she calls out, her voice echoing through-out the forest.

She doesnt get a response.

Sighing, she continues on to Steve's backyard.

She wanders around the pool, desperately calling he close friend's name. Her head whips to the side when she hears a loud rustling coming from the woods. She frowns, going to the forest and trembling from the cold as she continued calling out to Gogo.

"Gogo? Gogo?"

She hears more noises from behind her, and before she can turn around, a tall, bony creature races from one bush to the next, making Honey gasp in fear and fall in a puddle of mud.

She scrambles to get up and races to her car across the street, driving away in complete terror.

* * *

Cass sighs as she stands in the kitchen of the cafe and smokes her cigarette. The house hasn't smelled like cigarette smoke in twenty years, but Cass is too focused on finding Hiro to care.

She looks down in regret, Karen's visit replaying in her head on a loop. She had regretted chasing them out of the house, but she had to before Holly got hurt or saw something she shouldn't have.

Before she could further her thoughts, Mochi began moaning loudly, tugging at her jeans. Cass looked down at her in annoyance, realizing what the cat was meowing and gasping.

The lights in the living room were making a trail further into the house. Cass quickly put her cigarette out and ran to see where they led. They shined brightly at a hidden cabinet and, without a second thought, she crawled inside holding a bundle of lights.

"Hiro...are you here?"

The lights shined brightly, making Cass gasp in excitement.

"Okay. Good, good, good. Um...blink once for yes and twice for no. Can you do that for me, baby?"

The lights blinked once.

"Oh, good! Good, good. Hiro, I need to know...Are you alive?"

The lights blinked once.

"Oh, thank god," Cass sighed in relief, "Are you safe?"

The lights blinked twice. Cass's face paled as her shoulders rose.

"Oh, no. Oh, no, no, no-I need to know where to find you, honey. Where are you? Can you tell me where you are? Please, Hiro. I need to find you, tell me what to do."

She sighed when she got no response, crawling out of the cabinet and running to the garage, grabbing a paint can and popping it open as she ran back to the living room and began painting the wall.

* * *

"Hey! You're home early! How was the game?"

Honey Lemon walks towards her in fear, making Karen take one glance at her and gasp.

She's completely covered in mud, and her clothes are torn. Her usual blonde shiny hair is now a series of knots and tangles, and she's holding tightly to her bag.

"Honey? What's the matter?"

"It's Gogo," she says, trembling from crying. "I think...something happened. Something terrible."

* * *

"I don't know, Chief."

"What don't you know?"

"This lady, Terry Ives, sounds like a real nut to me. Her kid was taken for LSD mind control experiments? She's been dicredited. Claim was thrown out-"

"Okay, forget about her," Callaghan says, taking the article off of the library table and placing a new one in front of the officer. "Take a look at this."

The article is titled **MKULTRA EXPOSED** , with a picture in the center of Alistar Krei standing beside six children in hospital gowns. Callaghan points to Krei.

"Dr. Alistar Krei."

"Who?"

"Krei. He runs the San Fransokyo lab."

"Okay."

"You don't find that interesting?" Callaghan asks with a scoff.

"Not realy," Powell shrugs, "He was involved in some hippie crap back in the day, so what?"

"No, this isn't hippie crap. This is CIA-sanctioned research."

"Doesn't mean he had anything to do with our kid."

"Come on. Look at that. Hospital gowns. All of 'em. Now, that piece of fabric that the teacher found by the pipe. That sure as hell looked like a hospital gown to me, huh? Am I wrong?"

"I don't know, Chief..."

"Come on, man," Callaghan sighs, "Work with me here. I'm not saying that there's some grand conspiracy. I'm saying maybe something happened. Maybe Hiro was in the wrong place at the wrong time and saw something that he shouldn't have."

"It's a reach."

"It's a start."

" _Hey, Powell, is the chief with you?"_

Callaghan sighs, reaching forward to grab Powell's radio.

"Callaghan here, what do you got?"

And the next thing they know, they're bursting through the library doors and sprinting towards their car, jumping inside and turning on the sirens.

* * *

"Here," Eleven says in triumph, having led the boys through the streets of San Fransokyo and to the Lucky Cat Cafe.

"Yeah, this is where Hiro lives."

"Hiding."

"No, no, this is where he lives. He's missing from here, understand?"

"What are we doing here?" Wasabi asks in annoyance.

"She said he's hiding here."

"I swear, if we walked all the way out here for nothing..."

"That's exactly what we did!" Wasabi shouts, "I told you she didn't know what the hell she was talking about!"

Michael closes his eyes and calmly turns back to Eleven.

"Why did you bring us here?"

"Don't waste your time with her, Mike."

"What do you want to do, then?"

"Call the cops like we should've done yesterday!"

"We are NOT calling the cops!"

"Hey...guys?"

"What other choice do we have-"

"Guys!"

Fred's shout makes the three whip their head towards him, noticing the several police cars and amulances racing down the streets.

"Hiro."

* * *

Cass had painted the entire alphabet across her green wallpaper, a Christmas light hanging above each letter. She stepped back from the wall and took a deep breath.

"Okay. Hiro, talk to me. Where are you?"

A light glowed above the letter **R**.

"'R!' Good, good, good."

 **I**

 **G**

 **H**

 **T**

 **H**

 **E**

 **R**

 **E**

"'Right here.' 'Right here?' I-I don't know what that means, I need you to tell me what to do. How do I get to you? How do I find you? What should I do?"

 **R**

 **U**

 **N**

Cass gasps as all of the lights begin to flicker at once, turning around to see the wall stretching a twisting until a tall, alien-like creature burst put of it.

Cass screamed in horror, running outside and down the side-alley.

* * *

Callaghan quickly drives to the San Fransokyo beach in fear, glancing over as EMTs went to the shore with a gurney.

"Oh, Jesus," he groans, sprinting out of the car, and toward the beach.

"Oh, God. Please tell me it's not the kid."

The men pull out a tall, pale, skinny, black haired teenager out of the water. Callaghan immediately looks away.

"It's not Hiro," Michael says from behind a firetruck, "it can't be."

"It's Hiro," Wasabi says, tears flowing down his cheeks, "It's really Hiro."

Michael walks away from the firetruck, grabbing his head in disbelief. Eleven sees this and goes to comfort him.

"Mike..."

"'Mike?!' 'Mike', what?! You were supposed to help us find him alive! You said he was alive! Why did you lie to us?! What's wrong with you?"

Eleven sobs quietly, looking down at her feet and hugging herself. Michael scoffs, stomping towards his bike.

"Mike, come on," Wasabi pleads, "don't do this, man."

"Mike, where are you going? Mike!"

* * *

Cass rushes down the alleyway, yelping in alarm as Tadashi's moped lights come into view. He skids to a stop, turning the light off and unbuckling his helmet.

"Aunt Cass?!"

Cass only trembles and screams in response. Tadashi rushes to calm her down.

"It's okay, it's okay," he says calmly, rubbing her back and whispering soothing words to her.

* * *

Karen, Honey Lemon, Ted, Ms. Tomago and Holly all sit in the living room crying, jumping in alarm as Michael barges through the door in anger. Karen sits up and rushes to him.

"Michael? What's wrong?"

He runs up to hug her, sobbing uncontrollably into her shoulder.

" _It's Hiro. It's really Hiro."_


	4. The Body

Authors **note:**

 **when ur new to fanfic and an entire chapter gets deleted :)))))))**

* * *

 _Thump thump_

"A trooper...he found something."

 _Thump thump_

"In the water. At the quarry."

 _Thump thump_

"Our, um...our working theory is that Hiro..."

 _Thump thump_

"...crashed his bike, he...made his way over the quarry, and, uh..."

 _Thump thump_

"He fell in."

 _Thump thump_

 _Thump thump_

"Cass. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"N-no. Whoever y-you found...it's not my b-boy. It's not Hiro."

"Cass..."

"No, you don't understand, Callaghan. I talked to him...a half hour ago."

Cass stands up from the dining room table, rushing to the living room and pulling a wad of Christmas lights out of a cabinet.

"He was...talking. With these."

"Talking."

"Uh-huh. One b-blink for yes, two for n-no."

She drops the lights to the ground and rushes to the alphabet sprawled across the wall.

"And then, I m-made this. So he could talk to me. 'Cause he was hiding. From that...thing."

"The thing that came out of the wall. The thing that chased you."

"Yeah."

Tadashi approached the two with frustration, breathing harshly as he wiped more tears from his eyes.

"Cass, please. Stop."

"No, no! It's after him! He's in danger, we have to find him! We-"

"What exactly was this thing? It was some kind of animal, you said?"

"No, it was almost...human, but it wasn't. It had these long arms, and...it didn't have a face."

Tadashi shook his head and stormed up the stairs to his room.

The room that he used to share.

"Cass," Callaghan whispered, taking her arms gently and sitting on the couch as she repeated her sentence from before in a hushed and quick mumble. "Listen to me. After Abigail...I saw her too. And I heard her. I didn't know what was real. And then I f-figured out that it was in my m-mind. And I had to pack all that away. Otherwise, I was gonna fall down a hole..." Callaghan sniffed as tears pricked at his eyes, "a hole that I couldn't get out of."

"No, you're talking about grief. This is different."

"I'm just saying that you-"

"No, I know what you're s-saying, Callaghan. I swear to you, I know what I saw. And I'm not crazy."

"I'm not saying that you're crazy."

"No, you are...And I understand, but...God, I...I need you to believe me. Please."

"Listen...I think you should go to the morgue tomorrow and see him for yourself. It'll give you the answers that you need. But tonight..."

"Oh, God."

"I want you to try and get some sleep if you can."

Cass takes her hand out of Callaghan's and whimpers quietly to herself, looking away and shaking her head. Callaghan nods, getting up off the couch slowly and going outside to his car.

He starts the engine, glancing at the house with dread before sighing and shutting the engine off, pulling his hat over his eyes to sleep.

* * *

Tadashi lay on his bed with his headphones on, sobbing violently as he hugged Hiro's old jacket tightly. He let his mind wander to the times when he could just look across the room and he would be there. Hiro would be there. His tall, fifteen-year-old brother would be bopping his head to his music as he built a new robot for his collection, standing up with confidence to grab some more supplies. He would drop a screwdriver and bend down to pick it up, bumping his head in the process. He would laugh at himself with a shake of his head, standing back up and returning to his work. Cass would call for the two to come downstairs for dinner, telling Hiro that she had made his favorite. Hot wings. He would chuckle and say thank you, setting his robot down and throwing on his hoodie as he ran down the stairs.

A phantom. A figment of his imagination. A shadow.

Tadashi's sobs grew louder as he slowly got up from his bed and collapsed to the ground, clawing at the ground as he whispered his baby brother's name.

Cass heard his cries from the floor below as she stood in front of her bedroom door, trying in vain to persuade herself to just go inside and sleep.

She kicked the wall, screaming at it with fury.

And with that, she stormed down to the garage, grabbed an ax from the corner, returned to the living room couch...

And waited.

* * *

" _Hamada's body was found in the water of this quarry by state police earlier this evening. It was discovered by state trooper David O'Bannon, just after dark. The state police are mounting an investigation to determine Hamada's cause of death, but an initial inquiry..._ "

"Should I go down and talk to Michael?"

Karen grimaced, looking down at her lap as her lower lip began to tremble.

"Give him time...He'll come to us when he's ready."

Ted nods, taking Karen's hand in reassurance.

She smiles sadly, glancing over to the closed basement door.

Michael sits on the couch alone, flipping through Hiro's robot blueprints he had given him.

Well...he wasn't entirely alone.

"Could you please stop that?"

Eleven looks up in alarm, turning off the loud walkie-talkie she had been playing with and looking down at her hands.

"I thought we were friends, you know? But friends tell each other the truth. And they definitely don't lie to each other. You made me think Hiro was okay, that he was still out there, but he wasn't. He wasn't!"

Eleven looks up in guilt, unsure of what to do.

"Maybe you thought you were helping, but you weren't. You hurt me. Do you understand? What you did sucks."

She looks to the side, biting her lower lip and hugging her small frame.

"Wasabi was right about you. All along."

Eleven sighs, picking the radio back up and concentrating as she changed the channels.

" _So come on and let me know..."_

Michael whips his head up at Hiro's voice playing on the radio, sitting up straighter.

" _Should I stay or Should I g-go?"_

Michael's eyes widen like saucers as Eleven looks up, blood dripping from her nose.

" _Should I stay or should I go, now?_ "

Michael sprints towards her fort as quickly as he could. Eleven hands him the radio.

" _If I go there will be trouble. If I stay it will be double._ "

"Hiro is that you?! It's Mike! Do you copy? Over!"

Static plays from the other end.

"Hiro!"

The radio shuts off, making Michael slowly take it away from his ear and look at Eleven in disbelief.

"Was that...was it..."

She nods, her lip tugging up just slightly.

"Hiro."

 **CHAPTER FOUR**

 **THE BODY**

* * *

"Michael?"

Karen slowly opens the door, walking into Michael's room. She smiles softly at him as he squints his eyes in his bed.

"Hi, honey, how are you feeling?"

"I-I don't think I can go to school today."

"Oh, that's fine, sweetie. I need to drop off Honey, then I'm gonna check in on Gogo's parents. Why don't you grab a book or something and come with me? We can stop by the video store on the way back, pick out whatever you want. Even R-rated."

"I think I just wanna stay home today," Michael says with an apologetic tone, "I mean if that's okay?"

"Well, are you sure you're gonna be all right here by yourself?"

"I think so."

"Okay," she sighs, rubbing his shoulder. "But if you need anything, call Dad at work."

"Okay. Bye."

"Bye, sweetie," she waves, shutting the door behind her.

Michael jumps out of bed, grabbing his phone and calling Wasabi.

" _Mike, I don't really want to talk right now._ "

"Wasabi-"

" _Leave me alone._ "

"Wasabi, I'm not messing around. This is about Hiro."

" _What about Hiro? You mean about his funeral?_ "

"No, not about his funeral. Screw his funeral!"

" _What?_ "

"Just get over here, stat! And bring Fred."

Michael waited for the sound of his mother shutting the front door before rushing downstairs and to the basement.

* * *

"What's taking so long?" Callaghan groans in the waiting room at the San Fransokyo Coroner. The receptionist sighs.

"Well, everything's been a bit chaotic around here without Gary."

"Without Gary? Where's Gary?"

"I thought you knew. Those men from the state, they...they sent Gary home last night."

"So who did the autopsy?"

"Someone from the state, I'm sure."

* * *

Cass and Tadashi are on the one side of a window. On the other, a long table with a body on it is covered by a sheet. A nurse on the other side is waiting for their approval to remove it.

Tadashi glances at Cass, who's staring blankly at the covered body. He sighs, looking up at the nurse and nodding nervously. She uncovers it.

Hiro is on it, paler than snow and skinnier than a twig.

Tadashi runs away coughing, sprinting to the trash can across the hall.

"He has a birthmark on his right arm. Can you show that to me, please?"

* * *

Tadashi sat in the waiting room of the Coroner, completely and utterly paralyzed at what he had just seen. Only in his worst dreams had he seen his baby brother, the most precious thing in the world to him, in a state like that. He shivered, pulling down the sleeves of his sweater and leaning his elbows on his knees. Callaghan looked over at him, raising an eyebrow.

"How's your aunt doing?"

"I don't know," Tadashi admits, almost in a whisper. For the next few months, that was probably the only way he would be talking.

"How long's this stuff been goin' on? With the lights and, uh...Hiro and the thing in the wall?"

"Since the first phone call, I guess."

Callaghan nods, looking back down at the ground. Tadashi folds and unfolds his hands, looking back at the agitated sheriff.

"She's had anxiety problems in the past...especially after my parents died. But this...I don't know. I'm worried it could be...Ugh, I don't know."

He drops his head, sniffling and wiping his tears away before returning his gaze to the man.

"She'll be okay. We'll be okay. My Aunt Cass...she's tough."

"Yeah, she is," Callaghan agrees with a quiet laugh, reaching up to rub Tadashi's back. "Hey. She is."

"Ma'am!"

 _Whoosh_

"Ma'am! I need you to sign-"

"I don't know what you think that thing is in there, but that is not my nephew!"

"Cass," Callaghan warns, "wait a second-"

"No!"

And with that, she storms out of the building, Tadashi sprinting after her.

* * *

"So, wait a sec. I don't understand. You went back to my house?"

"To look for Gogo."

"Yeah, okay, but why didn't you just tell me? That's crazy."

Honey Lemon sighs, glancing away from Steve and around the alleyway behind the school, looking beyond the fence. The sky was gloomy and gray, the city skyscrapers nearly touching the clouds. It looked as if it would rain soon. The lights shined brightly in the dark weather, making Honey Lemon smile just slightly. Gogo loved the city. She loved the Golden Gate Bridge and the bright lights...even the traffic. She loved to take in every detail from her bike, speeding down the roads and letting the wind glide through her purple and black hair. They would stop by the Lucky Cat, giving Cass a wave and ignoring Tadashi almost completely, gossiping about all of the weird stuff they had heard about him. Hiro would come down and throw on an apron and help Cass gladly...

"...ey. Honey. I asked you a question."

Honey shook her head, returning her gaze to the annoyed teenager in front of her.

"I don't know, I...I was scared."

"You seriously think you saw a guy in a mask just hanging out in my yard?" Steve asks in disbelief. Honey Lemon shakes her head and looks down and the ground to recover memories of the visit.

"No, I don't think it was a mask."

"But he had no face..."

Honey Lemon stutters, struggling to find the right words.

"I don't know!" she blurts out finally. "I just...have a terrible feeling about this."

Steve's face suddenly morphs into one of panic as he leans against the wall and rubs a hand over his face.

"Oh, this is bad," he mumbles, "this is really bad."

"What?"

"The cops...they're gonna wanna talk to all of us now. Tommy, Carol, everyone who was at the party."

"...So?"

"My parents are gonna murder me!"

"...A-are you serious right now?"

"You don't understand, my dad is a grade-A asshole."

"Gogo is missing!" Honey cries, "And you're worried about your dad?!"

"When you talk to the cops, just...please do not mention the beers. It'll just get us both in trouble, and Gogo's got nothing to do with it."

"I can't...I can't believe you!" Honey scoffs, storming away from the conceited teen.

"Honey, wait. Honey!"

He huffed in anger, watching her get smaller and smaller until he couldn't see her anymore.

* * *

"Aunt Cass, will you get in?" Tadashi snarls, driving along beside her as she walks on the downtown sidewalks of San Fransokyo, smoking a cigarette and trembling as she tried her best to ignore her nephew.

"No, I just need to think. Just go on home."

"Aunt Cass, will you just get in, please?"

She begins to walk faster, making Tadashi roll his eyes and park the car, sprinting after her before she could get away.

"Cass!" he yells, grabbing her arm, "Stop!"

"Just go home, Tadashi!"

"No, this is not an okay time for you to shut down."

"Shut down?! What-"

"We have to deal with this, Cass. We have to deal with the funeral!"

Cass scoffs, laughing lightly in disbelief.

"The funeral? For what, for...for that thing back there?!"

"Okay, let me get this straight. Hiro, that's not his body, because he's in the lights, right? And there's a monster in the wall? Do you even hear yourself?!"

"I know it sounds crazy. You think I don't know that? It is crazy! But I heard him, Tadashi. He talked to me! Hiro is...is calling me! And he's out there, and he's alone, and he's scared, and I...I don't care if anybody believes me! I am not gonna stop looking for him until I find him and bring him home. I am going to bring him home!"

Cass turns around quickly, a large crowd listening in on their conversation. Tadashi huffs in anger.

"Yeah?! Well, while you're talking to the lights, the rest of us are having a funeral for Hiro! I'm not letting him sit in that freezer another day!"

The crowd continues to chat amongst themselves, making Tadashi's anger rise even more.

"Yeah, all right, the show's over."

* * *

Eleven sits in her fort with her legs crossed, eyes focused on the radio in front of her as she changed different stations to communicate with Hiro. Wasabi and Fred are crouched down in front of her, and Michael is standing behind her, glancing at the two boys every other second.

An indistinct whimper comes from the other end, making Michael dart his head towards his friends.

"We keep losing the signal, but you heard it, right?"

"Yeah," Wasabi shrugs, "I heard a baby."

"...Excuse me?"

"Mike, you obviously tapped into a baby monitor. "

"Uh, did that sound like a baby to you? That was Hiro!"

"Mike..."

"Wasabi, you don't understand. He spoke last night. Words! He was singing that weird 80's song he loves. Even El heard him!"

"Oh, well, if the weird kid heard him, then I guess-"

"Are you sure you're on the right channel?" Fred interrupts, leaning over to peek at the radio.

"I don't think it's about that," Michael says, "I think, somehow, _she's_ channeling _him._ "

"Like...like Professor X!"

"Yeah!"

"Are you actually believing this crap?" Wasabi asks in disbelief, tone raising just slightly. Fred looks down at his lap.

"I don't know, I mean...Do you remember that time when Hiro was building a robot with Tadashi and he invited us to watch? He got frustrated with the wrench and broke his finger, and...he-he sounded a lot like that whimper on the radio."

"Did you guys not see what I saw? They pulled Hiro's freakin' body out of the water. He's dead!"

"Well...maybe it's his ghost," Fred suggests with a gasp.

"It's not his ghost!" Wasabi barks in frustration, making Eleven jump.

"So, what was in that water?"

"I don't know," Michael groans, "all I know is that Hiro is alive. Hiro is alive! All we have to do is find him."

Eleven continues struggling with the radio, making Michael sigh in defeat.

"This isn't gonna work," he tells her, lowering the radio from her hands. "We need to get El to a stronger radio."

"Mr. Clarke's Heathkit Hamshack!" Fred exclaims. Michael nods in excitement.

"The Heathkit is at school. There is no way we're gonna get Eleven in there without anyone noticing. I mean...look at her."

The three boys all look at the small girl, who's looking back at them in confusion.

"Okay. I have an idea," Michael says with a smirk, grabbing Eleven's hand and running up the stairs to Honey's room. He sits her down on Honey's window seat and pulls out a makeup kit from her vanity, sitting in front of Eleven. He digs through the kit in confusion, unsure of how to use any of its contents. He pulls out a makeup brush and a capsule of pink powder, lightly brushing the powder onto Eleven's cheeks. She looks at him with complete confusion, clueless as to what his task was accomplishing. After applying some more powders to the girl's face, he rushes to Honey's closet and digs through an old box of costumes and dresses.

He sits her down on Honey's window seat and pulls out a makeup kit from her vanity, sitting in front of Eleven. He digs through the kit in confusion, unsure of how to use any of its contents. He pulls out a makeup brush and a capsule of pink powder, lightly brushing the powder onto Eleven's cheeks. She looks at him with complete confusion, clueless as to what his task was accomplishing. After applying some more powders to the girl's face, he rushes to Honey's closet and digs through an old box of costumes and dresses. He huffs in victory, pulling out an old yellow skirt and a pink blouse. He digs through an old Halloween box, taking out a blonde wig. He hands his findings over to Eleven, telling her to put them on while he waited in the hallway. She nods, shutting the door behind the boy. Michael runs down the stairs and yells for Wasabi and Fred to come up to the third floor. They all wait anxiously, until...

The door opens, making all three of them gasp. Eleven walks out, watching the three cautiously as she took a deep breath. Her new hair bounced with every step she took, and her skirt twirled along with it. The shirt seemed to bring out the color in her eyes as well, making Michael melt into them.

Of course, he didn't let anyone else know that.

"Wow," Fred said from behind him, smirking in amusement, "She looks-"

"Pretty," Michael interrupts, making Wasabi and Fred snicker quietly. He rushes to correct himself. "...good. You look pretty good."

Wasabi and Fred raise an eyebrow at him, making him shrink into his shoulders.

Eleven walks to the hallway mirror nervously, unaware of what to expect. Her reflection took her breath away, making her smile softly. She looked...

"Pretty...good."

* * *

"The brown current ran swiftly out of the heart of darkness, bearing us down toward the sea with twice the speed of our upward progress..."

All of the teacher's words were a blur in Honey's head as she stared blankly out the window, watching the rain pound hard in the city. She kept trying to keep herself from conjuring up the worst case scenario as to where her best friend might be but she couldn't help herself. What if that creature really did take the small girl?

 _Well, Jesus, why don't you go tell a police officer that you know what happened to Gogo by starting off with, "She was taken by Satan himself?"_

"Honey Wheeler?"

Honey's head snapped up at the soft call from across the room. Standing in the doorway was the school principle, smiling sadly right in her direction. Honey sat up straighter, searching the woman's eyes for answers.

"If you'll come with me, please?"

She looked down at her lap, her breath quickening. She eventually nods, grabbing her bag and standing up to see what the matter was.

She was led to the school cafeteria where Officer Powell, Officer Finley, and her mother sat at a table waiting for her arrival. Honey's face went white as a sheet at the sight.

 _Oh, god. She's dead, isn't she?_

Deciding that voicing her thoughts wasn't the best idea, she slowly walked to the three adults and sat next to her mother.

"What's going on?" Honey asks with concern, "Did you find her? Do you know where she is? What happened to her? Is she all right?"

"We just need to ask a few questions," Powell says, raising his hand to slow her down. Honey purses her lips tight, relief flooding her features. They didn't come to tell her that Gogo was dead. But...

She's still missing.

"Now, this argument you and Gogo had that you told us about the last night," Powell continues, "What exactly was it about?"

"It wasn't really an argument," Honey says, taking in every single emotion on the officer's faces. They both seemed to be annoyed by the whole thing. Probably because of a whole new missing person's case. But still...they seemed to be onto something. They must've found something at Steve's house when they looked this morning. She cleared her throat to continue. "Gogo just wanted to leave. I didn't, so I...I told her to just go home."

"Then what?"

"Then I went upstairs to put on some dry clothes."

"And the next day, you went back and...saw a bear, you're thinking?"

"I don't know what it was," Honey admits, shaking her head, "but...I think maybe it took Gogo. You need to check behind Steve's house-"

"We did," Officer Finley interrupts, "there's nothing there. There's no sign of a bear."

"And no car," Powell adds, making Honey gasp in confusion.

"What?"

"Look, we figure that Gogo came back last night and then she took off. Went somewhere else."

"Has she ever talked to you about running away? Leaving the city, maybe?"

"No!" Honey snaps, making her mother rub her shoulder to soothe her emotions. "No, Gogo would never do that, ever. Her parents are divorced, she would never leave her mom like that. Or this city. She would never."

"She wasn't maybe upset about the fact that you were spending time with this boy? Uh, Steve Harrington?"

Karen takes a deep breath, glancing over at Honey.

"What? No!"

"Maybe she was jealous because she saw you go up to Steve's room?"

"It wasn't like that," Honey scolds the officer.

"Like what?"

"Steve and me...we're just friends. We just talked."

"Now was this before or after you changed out of your clothes?"

Honey scoffs in disbelief, looking over at Karen, who's wearing the same expression.

* * *

"So, Gary, tell me about these troopers that brought in Hiro."

"There were about six of 'em, I'd say," the doctor says, looking around the dull police station before returning his gaze to the sheriff. "All states. Never seen that many troops come with a body before."

"They told you they were gonna take care of the autopsy, huh?"

"Yeah. Claimed jurisdiction. Kicked me out. It all seemed a bit over the top, considering..."

"Considering what?"

The man sighs, looking down at his hands and taking a deep breath.

"Considering that this was Hiro Hamada and not John F Kennedy."

* * *

Eleven rode on the back of Michael's bike, holding an umbrella over the both of them. The rain had lightened up a little bit but was expected to return with even more fury than before. She looked around the city, the dark weather making the lights on the buildings shine a bit brighter. There were advertisements for soda written in Japenese, making her tilt her head in confusion. There were hundreds of cars and people walking along the sidewalks holding umbrellas, overwhelming Eleven just slightly. The last time she saw an adult, he was kindly caring for her and then the next minute laying in a pool of his own blood. She shivered at the thought, continuing to look at the city in awe. After riding for about ten minutes, they pulled into a large parking lot and parked their bikes near the front. They all went through the high school's doors as Michael turned to the group.

"Okay, remember, if anyone sees us, look sad," he informed them, leading them to the Heathkit Hamshack.

" _Attention students,_ " came the principle's voice from overhead, " _there will be an assembly to honor Hiro Hamada in the gymnasium now. Do not go to the fourth period._ "

By the time the announcement was over, the four had already made it to Mr. Clarke's supply closet. Michael groaned in frustration.

"It's locked."

"What?" Wasabi fumed, jiggling the handle but in vain. Fred gasped, looking over to Eleven.

"Hey, do you think you can open it? With your powers?"

"Boys?"

The group all went still as Mr. Clarke turned the corner, eyeing them suspiciously. Wasabi smiled as hard as he could.

"Hey!"

"...The assembly's about to start," he says in confusion.

"We know," Michael speaks up, looking down at the ground sadly. "We're just...you know..."

"Upset," Wasabi interrupts.

"Definitely upset," Fred adds.

"We need some alone time."

"To cry."

"Yeah, listen...I get it," Mr. Clarke says quietly, his arms on his hips as he eyes the supply closet door suspiciously. "I do. I know how hard this is, but let's just be there for Hiro, huh? And then..." he smiles softly, digging through his pocket before tossing a ring of keys to Michael, "the Heathkit's all yours for the rest of the day. What do you say?"

The three boys nod happily. Mr. Clarke laughs softly, turning to Eleven's direction with a polite tone.

"I don't believe we've met, what's your name?"

"Eleven-"

"Eleanor!" Michael interrupts the girl, making her jump and hug her small frame. "She's my, uh..."

"Cousin!"

"Second cousin."

"She's here for Hiro's funeral."

"Ah, well, welcome to San Fransokyo High, Eleanor. I wish you were here under different circumstances."

"Thank you," she says, startling Michael. He had never heard her talk that loud before...

"Uh, where are you from exactly?"

"Bad place-"

"Sweden!"

"I have a lot of Swedish family."

"She hates it."

"Cold."

"Subzero."

Mr. Clarke's suspicious gaze returns as he turns toward the gymnasium door.

"Shall we?"

"Yup."

They all go to the gymnasium bleachers and sit as the principle gives a speech. Eleven looks around the large crowd of students in fear.

"At times like these, it is important that we come together as a community. We come together to heal, we come together to grieve..."

The group continued to look upset, obviously unaffected by the speech.

* * *

"You lied to the police!" Karen barked as she and Honey barged through the back door. Honey rolled her eyes, slamming her bag on the table.

"I didn't lie!"

"How naive do you think I am?! You and Steve were just talking?"

"We slept together! Is that what you wanna hear?! It doesn't matter!"

"It does matter!"

"No! It's all bullshit! It had nothing to do with Gogo and she's missing! And something terrible happened to her, I know it! No one is listening to me!"

Karen's gaze softens as she grabs Honey's shoulders before she can walk away to her room.

"Sweetie, sweetie, I'm listening."

"No! You're not!" Honey says, throwing Karen's hands off of her and storming up the stairs.

"Honey!"

"Just leave me alone!"

Honey ran to her room, slamming the door and throwing herself on her bed, letting her bag's contents spill out on her pillows. She looked down at the pictures that had spilled out, picking out the one of Gogo on the diving board and tracing her hand on it gently. Before she could break into another fit of sobs, however, a torn picture caught her eye, making her grab it with a shaky hand.

It was a blurry, tall, bony figure...

With no face.

She gasped, realizing it fit perfectly into the torn corner on Gogo's picture. She picked out another piece, which fit into another torn corner. She ran to her desk to grab a tape dispenser and began to tape all of the torn pieces together until it made on entire photo.

* * *

"Hiro Hamada's death is an unimaginable tragedy. He was an exceptional student and a friend to all of us. It's impossible to express the hole his loss will leave in our community. I'd like to introduce you to Sandy Sloane. She's a local grief counselor from the church over by the Golden Gate. But before she comes up here I just want those of you who are having trouble dealing with this tragic loss..."

"Look at these fakers," Michael whispers to Wasabi, glancing around the room at all of the high schoolers in the large room. Wasabi scoffs.

"They probably didn't even know his name until today."

The two boys whip their head over to the sound of snickering from the middle row. They squint their eyes in anger, faces turning red as their breathing picked up.

Their tormentors, Troy and...and whatever his "sidekick's" name was, were in the middle row mimicking their principle's words in amusement.

"'His loss will leave a hole in the community! Blah blah blah!'" they laugh, high-fiving each other with every wicked remark.

"Mouth breather," Eleven says to Michael, making him look at her with a sad nod. The school bell rings, and the four teenagers immediately make their way towards the two obnoxious boys.

"Hey. Hey!" Michael calls to them. "Troy!"

They both turn around slowly, smirking when they realize who had been calling to them.

"You...you think this is funny?" Michael fumes.

"What'd you say, Wheeler?" Troy asks in a threatening tone. It doesn't faze Michael one bit.

"I saw you guys laughing over there. And I think that's a real messed up thing to do."

"Didn't you listen to the counselor, Wheeler?" the other one asks. "Grief shows itself in funny ways."

"Besides, what's there to be sad about anyway?" Troy adds as the teenager's anger rises by the second. "Hiro's in fairyland now, right? Flying around with all the other little fairies? All happy and gay!"

The boys may as well have smoke coming out of their ears now as a crowd forms around the high schoolers. Before they can walk away, Michael storms up behind Troy and shoves him to the ground, making everyone in the gymnasium wince in the fall. Troy glares daggers at Michael.

"You're dead, Wheeler! Dead!" Troy stands up, lunging into a running position, leaping forward to charge...

Only to completely freeze in place.

The whole crowd gasps in curiosity as Troy struggles to gain control of his body, eyes widening as a wet stain begins to get larger and larger near his crouch.

"Dude!" a student says from the crowd in amusement, "Troy peed himself!"

"Holy shit!"

Michael breathes in astonishment, turning back to Eleven as she wipes the blood from her nose.

* * *

"It's made of soft wood with a crepe interior. Uh, now, I...I don't know what your budget is, but over here, we...have copper and bronze."

Tadashi stared blankly at the medium-sized coffin in front of him, taking a deep breath as he gently laid a shaky hand on it. Too much. This was all too much but if Cass wasn't going to help him, there was no other option. He had to do this alone.

Tadashi Hamada had to plan his baby brother's funeral in the most horrible way imagined.

Tadashi follows the man over to the other caskets, stopping in his tracks when he sees Honey standing in the doorway. He looks over at her in surprise, completely clueless as to why she had come here.

But he couldn't deny that this was a perfect distraction from the perfect person.

"Can you just give me a second?" he asks the man, making his way towards Honey.

"Of course," he smiles, patting Tadashi's shoulder. He smiles back, walking to Honey with his returned confusion.

"Hey," he says to her quietly as she looks on at him sadly.

"Hey...your aunt, um...she said you'd be here. I just...can we talk for a second?"

He nods, following her to a bench in the hallway. She sits, pulling out the photo she had taped back together and handing it to Tadashi as he sat beside her. She tells him about what she found out and he furrows his eyebrows.

"It looks like it could be some kind of perspective distortion, but I wasn't using the wide angle. I don't know," he shrugs, handing the photo back to Honey apologetically. "It's weird."

"And you're sure you didn't see anyone else out there?"

"Yes. And she was there one second and then, um...gone. I figured she bolted."

"The cops think that she ran away. But they don't know Gogo. And I went back to Steve's...and I thought I...saw something. Some weird man or...I don't know what it was."

Tadashi looks on with concern as she rubs her hands together frantically. She looks up at him and shakes her head.

"I'm sorry. I...I shouldn't have come here today. I'm...so sorry," she grabs her bag and stands up to go.

"What'd he look like?" Tadashi asks, stopping her dead in her tracks.

"What?"

"The man you saw in the woods," Tadashi says, voice trembling at what her answer might be. "What'd he look like?"

"I don't know...it was almost like...he didn't have-"

"He didn't have a face?"

Honey gasps, swallowing hard and pursing her lips together nervously.

"How did you know that?"

* * *

The bar fills with smoke and indistinct chatter as Callaghan sips on a whiskey, glancing over at the man beside him who's watching a football game closely. He bangs his hand on the table in frustration.

"Aw, come on!"

Callaghan slides his empty glass towards the bartender, waving his hand tiredly.

"Another, please. And another for my, uh, friend here."

The man looks up in realization, patting Callaghan's shoulder.

"Oh, thanks, man. Appreciate it."

"Yeah, that's all right. I'm, uh...I'm celebrating. My daughter, she got a job at Krei Tech Industries today."

"Is that right?" the man says with a laugh as the bartender serves the men their drinks.

"Yeah, she's smart. She's real smart. Don't know where she gets it from. I've been trying to figure that out for years."

"Your daughter," the man says, the mood suddenly dropping, "she got a name?"

"What?"

"Your daughter. What's her name?"

"Abigail," Callaghan replies, nearly choking on the word. "Her name's Abigail."

The man nods, reaching over to grab his drink and raising it in the air.

"To Abigail."

Their cups make a clinking sound before they both tilt their heads back and drink their whiskeys. Callaghan clears his throat.

"I recognize you. Are you famous or somethin'?"

"Uh, you might have seen me on TV, I, uh...I found that Hamada boy."

"So, you on that case or what?"

"I just saw him on patrol, you know? Dumb luck."

"So that quarry, that's, uh...that's state-run, where they found the boy, huh?"

"Yeah," the man nods, eyeing Callaghan suspiciously.

"Yeah, well, that's funny. 'Cause, you know, I know for a fact that it's run by the Sattler Company. Frank Sattler? A Decent guy still got a couple operational quarries up in Roane."

"Is that right?"

"Yeah," Callahan says coldly. "That's right. So why are you lying to me?"

"What's your problem, bud?"

"I don't have a problem. I'm just a concerned citizen."

"Yeah? Well, stick your nose someplace else. The kid is dead. End of story."

The man stands, throwing a wad of cash on the bar.

"Thanks for ruining the game, dick."

The man storms off, leaving Callaghan alone.

For half a minute.

Callaghan takes one last drink, follows him outside, drags him to the alleyway, and punches at him furiously. He presses the man against the wall, grabbing his face angrily.

"Okay...let's try this one more time. Who told you to be out there? What were you doing out there?!"

"I don't know!" the man cries. "They just told me to call it on and not let anybody get too close."

"Get close to what?!"

"The body," the man says weakly, spitting blood every other word.

"Who do you work for? The NSA? San Fransokyo Lab?"

Callaghan whips his head back at the sound of an engine starting, making his eyes widen.

"Who is that?"

"You're gonna get us both killed."

"Who is that?!" he shouts, releasing his hold on the man and running for his gun as the car pulls away.

He curses under his breath, kicking the wall when he turns around and sees no sign of the man.

* * *

Cass storms into Hiro's room, bringing his stereo down to the living room and turning it on full volume.

"Come on, come on! Talk to me! I know you're here!

... _At San Fransokyo High..._

"Come on," Michael whispers, leading the group to the Heathkit. Eleven sits in front of it as the boys surround her.

"Now what?"

"She'll find him," Michael assures the boys, "right, El?"

Eleven nods, closing her eyes and placing her hands on the table. The radio begins to make loud sounds, making the boys gasp.

"She's doing it," Michael breathes, "She's finding him!"

"This is crazy!"

"Calm down," Wasabi groaned, rolling his eyes.

The light above them goes out with a pop, making the boys jump.

"Holy..."

 _CLANG_

The boys jump as a loud noise repeats on the radio, making all of them breathe heavier and heavier.

 _CLANG_

"What is that?"

 _CLANG_

 _...At the Lucky Cat..._

 _"Should I stay or should I go, now?"_

 _CLANG_

Cass snaps her head toward the wall that the beast had crawled out of the previous night, squinting as a loud clanging sound comes from the other side. She slams her head on the pause button, the music stopping as she slowly walked toward the wall. She put her ear up against the wall to see what the sound was...

" _Aunt C-Cass?_ " _._

"Hiro?" Cass gasps, feeling around the wall and leaning against it to hear a small whimper.

... _At San Fransokyo High..._

" _...Cass? Aunt Cass?_..."

"No way!" Wasabi gasps as Hiro's voice echoes through the room.

" _Cass..._ "

... _At the Lucky Cat..._

"Hiro!" Cass exclaimed as her nephew continued to whimper from the other side of the wall.

" _Please...Cass..._ "

"Hiro! I'm here! I'm here!"

" _Oh, my god! Cass!_ "

Cass reaches up to the corner of the wall, throwing off the wallpaper to reveal a slimy red substance that covered the entire wall.

 _...At San Fransokyo High..._

"Hiro! It's us! Can you hear me?!"

"Hiro!"

"Hiro, it's us!"

" _Hello? Cass?_ "

"Why can't he hear us?!"

"I don't know!"

 _...At the Lucky Cat..._

"Baby!" Cass cried, clawing away at the wallpaper. She could see through the slimy substance clearly as Hiro came into view from the other side, clawing at the wall.

"Oh, God, Hiro!" Cass cried, banging on the wall in agony as she tried to reach her nephew.

"Cass!" he cried back, looking behind him every other second. A loud growling noise came from behind, making Hiro scream. "Cass-it's coming! Help me! Please!"

"Tell me where you are! How do I get to you?!"

... _At San Fransokyo High..._

" _It's like home, but it's so dark...it's so dark and empty. And it's cold! Cass! Cass!_ "

The boys listened with concern as Hiro cried for his aunt, static crackling over his voice.

... _At the Lucky Cat..._

"Listen to me!" Cass shouted, banging on the wall to try and claw through but in vain. The slimy substance was terribly tough, almost as if it were torn human flesh. "I swear I'm gonna get to you! Okay? But right now, I need you to hide!"

"Cass! Please!" Hiro begged as the slime slowly transformed into sheet rock.

"No, no, listen! Listen, I...I will find you, but you have to run now! Run! Run!"

Hiro sobbed, but nodded, running out of sight as the wall turned completely back to normal.

... _At San Fransokyo High..._

 _POW_

The boys all screamed as the radio suddenly caught fire. Fred ran to the wall and grabbed the fire extinguisher, blowing out the flames with a grunt. The fire alarm rang throughout the school, making the boys pale in panic.

... _At the Lucky Cat..._

"ARGH!" Cass yelled as she ripped through the wall with an ax, the sheet rock crumbling with every blow.

... _At San Fransokyo High..._

"EL! Are you okay?!"

Eleven looked over at him with bloodshot eyes as warm, crimson blood dripped down her nostrils. Michael gasps, turning to Wasabi for help.

"Here. Help me lift her up."

The two rush her out of the room, Fred following shortly after.

... _At the Lucky Cat..._

Cass through the ax at the wall one last time before realizing she had torn a clear hole through the wall, with no Hiro on the other side.

... _At San Fransokyo High..._

"This way!"

They rush her down the back hallway on a supply cart and out of the high school in complete shock.

 _"Cass!"_

* * *

"And you're..."

"Brightening. Enlarging."

Honey nods, looking around the photography room. The red lights made her eyes flinch, but she still seemed fascinated as Tadashi enhanced the torn photo of the creature she had seen.

"Did your aunt say anything else? Like, um, where it might have gone to, or..."

"No. Just that it came out of the wall," Tadashi says with a shrug, placing a blank photo in a pan of liquid.

"How long does this take?"

"Not long."

Honey nods again, clearing her throat as she looks down at her shoes.

"Have you been...doing this a while?"

"What?"

"Photography."

"...Yeah. I'm better at robotics, but this is more of a hobby. I guess I'd rather observe people than, you know..."

"Talk to them?"

"I know. It's weird."

"No!"

"No, it is," Tadashi says with a soft laugh. "It's just, sometimes...people don't really say what they're thinking. But you capture the right moment...it says more."

"What was I saying? When you took my picture?"

"I shouldn't have taken that," Tadashi sighs, dropping his head in guilt. "I'm, uh...I'm sorry."

Honey smiles softly at him and they both turn back to the picture.

"So," Tadashi starts, glancing over at Honey, "what's your real name?"

"What?"

"You know...everyone says your name is a nickname that you just kinda stuck with. You have to have a real name. So, what is it?"

"Uh..." Honey laughs under her breath, "Honey actually really is my name. Honey Alexis Wheeler. It's the Lemon part that's a nickname. It's based on Gogo's favorite anime character or something. I don't know, it's stupid, it's-"

"No," Tadashi says softly. "I like it."

Honey blushed, looking back down at the photo and gasping.

"That's it."

"Hum?"

"That's what I saw," she repeats, pointing at the photo.

It had processed to reveal a tall, lanky creature with long fingers, a blood-soaked torso...

And no face.

"My aunt...I thought she was crazy 'cause she said...that's not Hiro's body. That he's alive."

"And if he's alive-"

"Then Gogo."

* * *

Callaghan pulled up to the city Coroner, turning his engine off and grabbing his hat.

Before he could get out, however, he glances at the hat and throws it in the backseat, going inside of the building.

"Hey, Patty!" he greets the receptionist kindly, who smiles back gladly.

"Hey! Need something, Chief?"

"Oh, you know, I forgot my hat."

"Oh!" Patty laughs.

"I'll just be a minute," he says, sliding past her and going straight to the room that held Hiro's body. He turned a corner to see a guard sitting down reading a book. Callaghan groans but, nevertheless, smiles brightly.

"Hey, I love that book. It's a nasty mutt."

The guard immediately stands up, going in front of the door.

"Hey, you can't be back here."

"Yeah, I just got off the line with O'Bannon. He said that he needs to see you at the station. It's some emergency..."

"What the hell are you talking about? I don't work with O'Bannon."

"Did I say, O'Bannon? I meant..."

 _SMACK_

The guard fell to the ground as Callaghan rubbed at his knuckles in pain. He grabbed the keys off of the man's belt and rushed inside of the room in front of him. A series of freezers surrounded nearly every part of the wall. He scanned all of them until he found one marked _Hamada, Hiro._ He tore it open, pulling out a long slab with a covered body on it.

He pulled the sheet off and stepped back with a grimace. He was dead. He was really dead.

He sighed, turning back to the body and pulling the sheet further, revealing his chest. Callaghan pressed on it, gasping at what he felt.

It wasn't cold or wet. It felt almost like plastic.

He exhaled heavily, pulling out his pocket knife with dread. He stabbed it right above his belly button, tearing up towards his chest.

The disgusting squelching sound he had expected never came. Instead, a loud squeaking sound echoed throughout the tiny room. He gasped loudly, putting his hand inside of the open tear and pulling out a handful of cotton.

The body is a fake.

And Hiro is alive.

* * *

A bright light came from outside, making Cass wince as it hit her face. She rubbed her eyes and ran outside to see who had pulled up to her house. She gasped in relief as Lonnie stepped out of the car with concern etched across his features. Cass stumbled out of the house, running to his car.

"Babe...Jesus, the hell happened?"

"Lonnie..." Cass sobbed, throwing herself into his arms as he clutched onto her tightly.

* * *

Callaghan drove straight to the San Fransokyo lab, getting out of his car with a pair of wire cutters and marching to the fence surrounding the facility.

Without even a tiny bit of hesitation, he lifted the wire cutters up the fence, and...

 _SNAP!_


End file.
